Worth County wins 8th state championship avenging opening game loss to Rock Port

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by Jeremy Benson, Grand River Conference Media LLC

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Down 38-28 with 7:28 left in the 3rd quarter, the Worth County Tigers' backs were against the wall.  At that point, the Rock Port Blue Jays had scored on all six possessions.  Worth County's title hopes were starting to look dim.  They started from their own 31, and seven plays later, Lucas Frisch ran it in from 5 yards.

Worth County forced a fumble at the Rock Port 16-yard line and one play later, Brayden Stevens ran it in to give the Tigers a 42-38 lead at the end of the third quarter.  Rock Port was facing 4th and 4 at their own 21 to start the 4th.  Jack Meyerkorth caught a tipped pass, but he was just shy of the first down marker giving the Tigers great field position.  Jude Archer would punch it in to put the Tigers up 50-38 with 9:05 left in the game.

Archer came up big all night.  After Rock Port took a 26-14 lead within the first minute of the second half, Archer found a hole and ran 59 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-22 Rock Port.  After a 42-yard touchdown run from Rock Port's Brock Holmes, Archer found the end zone again from 53 yards.  Another Holmes touchdown put the Blue Jays up 38-28 with 7:28 left in the 3rd.  That is when Worth County scored 22 unanswered points to go up 50-38.  Rock Port cut it to 4 points when Holmes scored another touchdown from 18 yards out with 6:11 left in the game.  

That was the last time Rock Port would touch the ball.  Worth County drove down the field while milking the clock.  Hayden Sanders found Caleb New for a 10-yard touchdown with 2:08 left in the game.  On the ensuing kickoff, Jude Archer outran Rock Port players to recover the kickoff.  Worth County would run out the clock and win their 8th state championship and 1st one since 2017 by the score of 56-46.

Worth County had a 14-12 lead with 19.6 seconds left in the 1st half before the half when Jack Meyerkorth scored on a 53-yard reception as time expired.  The Tigers trailed 18-14 at the half.  Lucas Frisch had a 14-yard touchdown run, and New had a 20-yard touchdown reception for Worth County's first-half scores.

The win gave Jon Adwell his first state championship after falling in the title games in 2021 and 2023. After the game, Coach Adwell praised his players, saying, "Never had a doubt.  These guys are grinders.  They're absolute animals.  I'm just so proud of the leadership that these guys bring to the table, and the resilience to just keep grinding."  He added, "It was a grind.  We were hoping we had enough gas in the tank to be able to go against Rock Port.  Because I definitely knew that we were tested, and that if it came down to something like that, we would be able to grind through that."

Worth County finishes the season with a record of 13-1, winning 13 in a row after an opening season loss to Rock Port.  Jude Archer finished the game with 152 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Tigers.  Archer also had one reception for 40 yards.  Lucas Frisch and Caleb New also found the end zone twice.

These two teams will open the season against each other next season.

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