There’s plenty of bad news to go around this weekend, but sometimes we need to turn away for a moment to catch our breath and calm our hearts. These two insane high school football plays — in state championship games, no less — had the announcers screaming in excitement and the crowds going wild.

Let’s start with this massive effort in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s (FHSAA) state 7A title game, where Lake Mary was battling Vero Beach. Down six points to go with a scant seven seconds left, quarterback Noah Grubbs dropped back to pass and fired it into the end zone… where it was tipped.

Game over, right? Nope. A Lake Mary player snagged the ball and attempted to score… only to be quickly surrounded by a gang of Vero Beach defenders, and there was no hope of going further. Game over this time, right? Nope. Lake Mary’s Tavarius Brundidge Jr. ripped the ball out of his own player's hands and…

Well, you watch the rest:

Hard to believe this just happened. Lake Mary 28 Vero Beach 27 - INSANE FINISH in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship (@LMRamsFootball) pic.twitter.com/dxAZsye1qs

— MaxPreps (@MaxPreps) December 14, 2025

After that spectacular play, the extra point was good, and Lake Mary won their first championship ever, 28-27. Doubtless, that one will go down in lore in Seminole County, FL.

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But I promised you not one but two incredible endings to state championships. The second occurred in the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, where Archbishop Shaw High School had basically won the game for the LHSAA Division II Select championship and were just waiting for the clock to tick down to zero so they could start pouring the Gatorade over the head coach.

But one player started celebrating too early.

After a kneel down, a Shaw lineman ripped off his helmet, threw it in the air, and started running to the sidelines, thinking it was game over. It wasn’t, and the yellow flag was thrown.

A penalty stops the clock.

OK, not the end of the world — all they had to do was punt, and then run out the clock. But then this happened:

This ending to a high school state championship game was WILD ?

Shaw was one kneel-down away from winning the state championship, but an early celebration led to a late St. Charles comeback win

(via @lhsaanetworktv) pic.twitter.com/pC8oFyS4UA

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 13, 2025

Hoo boy.

Amazingly, the St. Charles Catholic kicker who drilled a 44-yard field goal as time expired (pretty darn impressive for a high-schooler) had only minutes before thought he would be the goat in a painful loss:

Given that earlier in the game, St. Charles missed an extra point that would have tied the score, the ending was that much worse for Shaw.

But better for St. Charles.

“I felt like I had lost us the game, and then next thing I know I’m out there kicking the game-winning field goal,” Milioto said of his second chance, per NOLA.com.

The win gave St. Charles their fourth state title.

Incredible plays, young men. There’s something special about high school football, and to both winners and losers alike, I say: well played, gents.

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