Rushing -- Newton: Toddrick Pendland, 24-149; Stiffon Ethridge, 10-80; Sammy Adams, 5-30. Boyd: Chase Hall, 14-48; Garrett Tidwell, 37-149.

Passing -- Newton: Adams, 2-6-0-67; Ethridge, 0-1-0-0. Boyd: Tidwell, 4-9-1-197.

Receiving -- Newton: Pendland, 1-18; Meredith Diggles, 1-49. Boyd: Brandon Clement, 1-26; Taylor Ponder, 2-110; Hall, 1-27.

WACO - Boyd's stars -- Garrett Tidwell, Taylor Ponder, Chase Hall and Ian Ritchey -- made big plays. But its state-championship victory Saturday came down to the leg of Pete Lugo.

The senior made the last kick of his high school career, a 31-yard field goal with 4:08 left, to give the Yellowjackets a 17-14 victory over Newton in the Class 2A Division I final at Waco ISD Stadium.

Lugo had missed from 39 yards in the first quarter, but his game-winner was hit high and strong into a shifting wind in the south end zone, giving Boyd its second state title. The Yellowjackets won the 2A crown in 1983.

"Everybody always wants to make the big kick or the big pass or the big block or the big run," said Lugo, who also played fullback and linebacker. "I knew I had to deliver on this one. It was awesome."

The win was the toughest of the season for the undefeated Yellowjackets (15-0), who had won their previous 14 games by an average of 32.1 points. Newton, a two-time 3A state champion playing its first season in 2A, lost for the first time in 11 games and finished 11-3. The Eagles had won their four playoff games by an average of 29.5 points.

"They were a great team -- the best team we've played," said Ritchey, a senior linebacker who stopped a fourth-and-goal play at the 1-yard line to keep the game scoreless at halftime and forced a fumble on Newton's next-to-last drive.

Without timeouts, Newton took possession for the last time and advanced to a first down at the Boyd 43 with 50 seconds left. After a 4-yard run, a spike to stop the clock set up third-and-six with 22 seconds left. Ponder sacked Newton quarterback Sammy Adams for a 2-yard loss, and in the scramble back to the line, Adams lost track of the downs and spiked the ball to kill the clock. Because it was fourth down, the ball went to Boyd with two seconds left.

Tidwell, who ran for 149 yards, threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter, the first a 76-yarder down the right sideline to Ponder. After Newton answered with a touchdown, Tidwell found Hall for a 27-yard touchdown.

IN THE KNOW

BREAKDOWN

Why Boyd won: Senior Pete Lugo kicked the game-winning 31-yard field goal with 4:08 left. Defensively, the Yellowjackets, for the most part, contained Newton's Toddrick Pendland, who entered the game averaging 11.1 yards per carry.

Why Newton lost: The Eagles were 0-for-9 on third downs and couldn't break a big play.