ARLINGTON – For 24 teams entering this weekend, coaching staffs feverishly concocted what they thought was the perfect recipe for a state championship. A blend of all three phases of the game, with a dash of extra spice here and there to finish off a perfect night, ending in a title.

For the Gunter Tigers on Thursday, the mix was nearly perfect, and the extra spice came in a dominant defensive performance in a 42-7 rout of Poth in the Class 3A Division II championship game.

“I think special teams, offense, and defense have all got to be in sync,” Gunter head coach Jake Fieszel said after his Tigers won the third state title in school history. “Obviously, offense finishing drives and special teams pinning them deep and the defense keeping them down there, it all works together. All three phases were feeding off of each other tonight and it was fun to be a part of,” Fieszel said.

The Tigers swarmed to the ball on every Poth play and did not allow a score until the final seconds of the game. The Pirates ran only eight plays in Tiger territory for the entire contest. The entire Gunter defensive unit contributed to the effort, with 16 Tigers recording at least two tackles. 

“We knew that we were going to have to swarm to the football because their runners are so physical and strong,” Feiszel sad. “We knew that getting them down with one person wasn’t going to work, so getting all those guys to the ball was the plan and I’m proud of them for getting it done.”

“It was awesome to see 11 guys playing as hard as we could and do exactly what coach told us to do with minimal mistakes, it was a great team effort,” said Gunter linebacker Ashton Bennett.

Poth was efficient offensively throughout the playoffs on the way to its first state final appearance since 1968, but multiple offensive miscues and the lack of mistakes by Gunter made it a tough road for the Pirates inside AT&T Stadium.

“We knew going into it that Gunter was a great football team on defense and we hurt ourselves a little bit but respect goes out to them. They’re the best in the state to do it,” Poth quarterback Zane Raabe noted.

Raabe was forced into two interceptions and the Poth running game was stuffed for 3.6 yards per carry on 37 attempts. Gunter had six tackles for loss and forced two fumbles.

“Our defensive line played fantastic,” Fieszel said. “I was worried going into the game how we would match up so I was really excited to see them get after it and I’m really proud of them. Everyone played well but our defensive front really did a good job and carried out the plan.

“Our defensive coaches worked really hard this week and came up with a fantastic plan and these guys did a fantastic job of executing it. We knew we had to stop the running game and some of their seam shots. Our kids for the most part executed that and I’m really proud of them.”

The plan, the execution, and the result were all there. A recipe for success, and a recipe for another state championship trophy.