KINSTON, NC – The Parrott Academy Patriots, behind a solid running game and a stingy defense, win the NCISAA 2A state championship as they defeated the St. David’s School Warriors by the score of 28-14. This is Parrott’s first state title in 25 years (1990) and the second one in school history.

The Patriots would jump out on top middle way through the first quarter as sophomore quarterback Connor Bright hit Davis Basden on a 22-yard touchdown pass to give Parrott an 8-0 lead. Late in the quarter, St. David’s got on the board with a 25-yard pass from junior quarterback Garrett Lewis to Braxton Montague to cut the Patriots lead to 8-6.

The Warriors, setup by a bad snap on a punt by Parrott, found the end zone in the second quarter as Lewis hit Montague again, this time on a 15-yard score, to take a 14-8 advantage. The Patriots would tie the contest up at 14-14 before halftime on a Bright 2-yard run.

After the break, it was all Parrott. The Patriots would take the lead for good in the third quarter as Bright threw a 34-yard touchdown strike to Basden to go ahead 20-14. In the fourth, Basden would tack on his third score of the night on a 3-yard run to give Parrott their 14-point margin.

The Patriots had 371 yards of total offense with a tremendous 274 yards of it coming on the ground. Basden had 26 carries for 130 yards while Cole Daniels ran for 126 yards on 21 rushes.

The Parrott defense was sensational as it held St. David’s standout running back Melvin Briggs to only 56 yards rushing. Daniels had nine tackles (two for a loss) in the contest while Holden Killinger and Riley Cregan each chipped in with eight apiece.