TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The last time Mars Hill won a state championship was 2018, as a 1A program. This year the Panthers were moved up to class 2A, which did not seem to intimidate them in the slightest.
Mars Hill had two losses on the season, but one of those losses was a forfeit to American Christian. The other loss came from their first game of the season against 6A Jasper, where the Panthers lost by 10 points.
This afternoon the Panthers went head to head against Abbeville, a team that was 12-1 on the year and had a lot of momentum rolling in.
But the 2A title game wasn't as close as Abbeville may have hoped. Mars Hill scored back-to-back-to-back touchdowns in the first half, leading 20-0 heading into halftime.
Through the second half, the Panthers continued to dominate racking up 49 unanswered points before Abbeville would score their first touchdown. They would go for the 2-point conversion and see success making the score 49-8.
Mars Hill senior, Peyton Higgins would get the lateral on the kickoff and would return it from 76 yards out for another Panthers score.
Fast forward to the last six minutes of the game and the Yellow Jackets would score another touchdown, but would be unsuccessful in their 2-point conversion, score would be 56-14 Mars Hill.
The Panthers would take a knee midfield and win the 2A Championship. Freshman quarterback Griffin Hanson would be the MVP. The Panthers would have 521 total yards on the day.
