ARLINGTON, Texas — After their second state title game appearance in school history, the Malakoff Tigers finally hoisted their first trophy.
Malakoff made their first state championship game in 2018, losing 35-21 to Grandview.
Their second time around, however, they found sweet redemption: The Tigers knocked off the two-time defending state champion Franklin Lions by a score of 14-7.
Franklin won the 3A Division I state championship last season, and the 3A Division II state title the year before. Prior to those two championships, Franklin had gone from 1915 to 2020 without winning it all.
Malakoff's win on Thursday was spurred by its star tandem of quarterback Mike Jones and wide receiver Chauncey Hogg, who twice connected on stellar deep passes to provide the Tigers' offense its spark on the afternoon.
The Tigers defense also came up big in the game. In the first quarter, Malakoff forced a goal-line fumble as Franklin looked to tie the score at seven apiece.
Later, in the fourth quarter, Malakoff's defense also stood strong on a fourth-down red zone attempt from Franklin on a drive that saw the Lions looking to tie the game at 14 and force overtime.
In his 15th season as head coach, Jamie Driskell led the Malakoff Tigers to an undefeated season (16-0) this year, and the school's first-ever state championship.
Malakoff blasted through its regular season and postseason schedule, winning all of their games before Thursday's contest by an average of 42.2 points per game.
Malakoff -- located 98 miles southwest of the DFW metroplex in Henderson County -- did, however, find their competition more difficult in the playoffs, only narrowly beating Brock 38-31 after taking a late lead in the state semifinal.
Franklin also only narrowly beat Brock in the 2022 state championship.
Heading into Thursday's championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tigers fever was already at a fever pitch in Henderson County, where one judge even rescheduled all of his afternoon cases just so he could cheer on the Tigers.
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