Hammond’s game-winning drive clinches eighth straight state championship

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer

Columbia - The Hammond football team edged Porter Gaud 28-21 in the closing minute of the game to claim yet another state championship, but the Skyhawks’ eighth straight state championship and 22^nd in school history did not come easily.

After Porter Gaud’s game-tying score and a Hammond fumble that nearly spelled disaster, the 13-0 Skyhawks made good on Andrew Turner’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Michael Tyler with 45 seconds left.

“Just so proud of this group, their resilience, their fight,” Hammond head coach Jon Wheeler said after the game. “We’ve been down at halftime in three of our last four state championship games. This team is battle-tested and they rise to the occasion.”

Hammond took an early lead when Immanual Johnson closed out the Skyhawks’ 66-yard opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. From there Hammond stayed one step ahead of the the Cyclones until late in the second half.

Porter Gaud tied the game at 21 on Tony Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run—the first play of the fourth quarter. The Cyclones drained the clock on that 51-yard drive, using 15 plays to tie the game with just under 12 minutes to go.

Hammond lost the football on the next possession, which set Porter Gaud on the Skyhawks’ 17-yard line. Poised to take their first lead of the game, the Cyclones actually had a touchdown play shortly after taking over, but the play was called back for a holding penalty.

After that flag, the Hammond defense forced Porter Gaud so far back that it had to punt from the Hammond 38.

“Something in me didn’t flinch,” Wheeler said. When the fumble happened, he told the defense to harken back to the Cardinal Newman game earlier in the season. Hammond beat them 35-6, but late in that game the defense made a goal-line stand.

“I told the boys you’ve been here in your mind,” Wheeler said before sending his defense out to stop the Cyclones. When Cardinal Newman was the opponent, “I told them to go to the state championship in their minds during that game, and tell yourselves we need a stop to win the ballgame. And that’s what they did.”

Wheeler added, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a defense because we were outmatched up front. I’ve got to give credit to our defense for just fighting and fighting. I’m just so proud of them.”

That stand gave the break that the Skyhawks offense needed to close out the game. They went 80 yards and drained the rest of the fourth quarter on the drive. When it came time for points on the board, Wheeler said he knew what play to run.

“We haven’t tried a 40-yard field goal all year. Let’s put it in the hands of our senior quarterback, our senior offense, our skill players,” he said. “Let’s see if we can hit a pass and it’s déjà vu with Mike Tyler. And if we missed it, they’ve got 40 seconds and one time out, and they’re a running team, it’d go to overtime. Mike T and Andrew made a play, the offensive line protected, and that drive was unbelievable.”



It was the second straight year that a Turner-to-Tyler connection won the state championship. Hammond beat Laurence Manning 28-21 in 2023.