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Blum Wins First-Ever State Title 58-52 over McLean

The Blum Bobcats (13-2) defeated the McLean Tigers (13-1) 58-52 to win the Class 1A Division I State Championship. Blum had to hang on as McLean came back after being down 40-22 last in the 3rd quarter to tie it up at 52 with 2:15 remaining. This was Blum's first state championship playing as well as their first  state championship appearance. McLean won the 2018 1A Division I title has now played in two state title games.

Blum completed their revenge tour with the win over McLean. The Bobcats lost to the Tigers 38-65 in week one of the season. Last week, the Bobcats beat Jonesboro 52-30 after Jonesboro had been them in week #2 6-20.

McLean jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and led 22-16 at the end of the first quarter. Tiger RB Ben Crockett threw a 43 yard pass and had runs of 78 yards and 42 yards. The Bobcats got 2 touchdown passes from Koby Clinkscales to Dylan Vardeman. McLean ended the quarter with 10 plays for 198 yards while Blum had 12 plays for 173 yards.

Blum held McLean to 39 total yards in the 2nd quarter as the took a 24-22 lead into halftime. The Bobcats score came on a 1 yard run by coltin Gonzales. The defenses dominated the 2nd quarter as Blum had only 36 yards of offense themselves.

Blum got the ball first in the 2nd half and took almost 4 minutes off the clock and scored on a short run by Gonzales to take a 32-22 lead. McLean moved the ball well on their first possession of the half but Blum DB Clinkscales intercepted the ball to end the drive. The Bobcats capitalized as Gonzales scored again and Blum led 40-22 with 1:32 left in the 3rd quarter. The Tigers got a score on a 9 yard run by Crockett with 43 seconds left to make the score 40-30. McLean tried an onside kick but Bobcat WR Trey Bullard picked it up and ran it in for the score to give Blum a 46-30 lead with 35 seconds left.

The Tigers scored first in the 4th quarter with a pass from Crockett to Jacob Watson to make the score 46-36. The Bobcats got a good kickoff return but were not able to convert on 4th down and the Tigers took over. Two passes by Crockett and McLean narrowed the score to 46-44 with 3:59 remaining in the game. Blum responded to the pressure and took it down the field and Gonzalez scored his 4th touchdown of the game. The extra point was no good and Blum led 52-44 with 2:51 remaining in the game. The Tigers took it down after a great kickoff return and Crockett ran it in from 8 yards out. The very important extra point was good and the score was tied at 52 with 2:15 left. Gonzales scored his 5th touchdown of the game with a 27 yard run. The extra point was no good again and Blum led 58-52 with 58 seconds left. The Tigers made one last attempt but made it to the Bobcat 25 when the clock ran out.

Defensive Player Of The Game : Ben Crockett (McLean)

Offensive Player Of The Game : Coltin Gonzales (Blum) (pictured)

Attendance : 3,925

Key Stats :

Total Plays/Yards McLean 51-483 Blum 45-441

Blum :
Coltin Gonzales 26 carries for 232 yards 5 Touchdowns 4.5 tackles
Dylan Vardeman 5 of 8 passing for 143 yards 2 Touchdowns 8.5 tackles 1 TFL
Koby Clinkscales 3 catches for 111 yards 2 Touchdowns 4.5 tackles 1 INT

McLean:
Ben Crockett 27 carries for 227 yards 4 touchdowns 13 of 21 passing for 254 yards 3 touchdowns 14.5 tackles
Dalton Abshire 4 catches for 71 yards 7 tackles

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