To finish a season undefeated and raise a championship trophy into the sky is a major accomplishment, but it’s all the more fantastic when you rally back from a 19-point deficit to win that title game and give your longtime head coach his first gold ball with the team.

That’s what happened with the 1996 edition of the Seminole Chieftains, who clawed their way back to a 27-26 win over Spiro in the Class 3A championship game. It was head coach Mike Snyder’s 16th season with the Chieftains, and his first state title there.

“It was certainly one of the most exciting ball games I’ve ever been a part of,” said Snyder, who continues to serve as the Chieftains head coach.

Seminole entered the 3A title game at 13-0, having posted playoff wins over Collinsville (56-0), Oologah (35-28 OT) and Tuttle (35-14). Spiro was 12-1 with playoff wins over Cascia Hall (41-20), Vinita (49-29) and Sulphur (10-7 OT).

Spiro’s lone loss of the regular season — a 38-27 setback to Seminole.

Turnovers were a big stumbling block for Seminole early in the title game, which was played before 8,000 fans at Tulsa Union High School’s Union-Tuttle Stadium. An early interception gave way to a 7-0 first-quarter lead for Spiro, and a fumbled punt later gave the Bulldogs the opportunity to make it 13-0.

The missed point-after attempt would haunt them, even though they later appeared to have the game decided with a 26-7 halftime advantage.

The Chieftains’ first sustained drive spanned 69 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Jarrod Reese connected on three short passes to Rion Louie, then hit Brian Moddelmog for a 23-yard gain to the Spiro 20. Two plays later, Reese ran in from 4 yards to cut Spiro’s lead to 13-7.

The Bulldogs scored on both of their second-quarter possessions — TD passes from quarterback Chris Massey to Jerrod Johnson (28 yards) and C.J. Steele (14 yards). This put the Chieftains into that aforementioned 19-point rut, but Spiro was done from there.

“I remember us not panicking,” Snyder said. “We made a few adjustments.”

Snyder told his team that if they would go out in the second half and “shut them out,” they could get themselves back into the game.

And that’s just what the Chieftains did.

Despite suffering another fumble — this one at the Spiro 4-yard line — Seminole used its defense to pin the Bulldogs deep and force a punt. Two interference calls certainly helped, and the Chieftains then scored with 3:31 left in the third quarter as Louie made a diving catch of a 13-yard Reese offering.

The Chieftain defense made another stand, and Eddie Louis batted down a fourth-and-3 pass to force a turnover and set up Seminole’s second-to-last scoring drive.

This one covered 67 yards in eight plays and was capped by Myron Louie’s 15-yard rush.

Moddelmog added the PAT kick.

Seminole touched the ball thrice more, and even fumbled the ball away again early in the fourth quarter. When it was all over, the Chieftains had fumbled the ball away three times and were hit with two interceptions.

Looking back on it now, Snyder believes it was somewhat of a gamble to do what he did in the waning minutes of the game. Held to a fourth down, the Chieftains had all three of their timeouts left, so Snyder opted to punt it away.

Cue the Seminole defense one more time.

“We were able to get the ball back,” Snyder said.

That final drive, which started with 1:52 left to play, is just as vivid now in Snyder’s mind as it was 15 years ago.

“Every pass we completed is still in my memory,” he said.

The drive lasted 88 yards and seven plays. Reese was an incredible 5-for-6 on the drive, including a 26-yard toss to Louie that put the Chieftains at their own 46.

Reese then found Moddelmog for a massive gain to the Spiro 16, and following the possession’s only incompletion, Seminole reached the Bulldog 7 with 44 seconds to go.

Reese gained 2 more yards for the Chieftains with a keeper up the middle, and the march finally came to fruition when Reese found a wide-open Brandon Washington for a 5-yard touchdown pass with just 28 ticks left on the clock. Moddelmog made the connection on the PAT kick, and what would be the 27-26 final lit up the scoreboard.

“It was a great feeling,” Snyder said. “But the battle that we had to go through to get there seemed a lot more important than the game itself. It was a very enjoyable locker room after that.”

Snyder said despite coming up short in the first half, his team battled back and dominated the second half.

“I’m just proud of what they did,” he said. “They overcame a lot of adversity.”

Reese, considered by Snyder to be one of the state’s best QBs, came away hitting 16 of his 30 tosses for 215 yards and three scores. Reese went on to play in the 1997 Oil Bowl and he led Oklahoma two a 42-21 win over Texas. He ran for two touchdowns, threw for two and was voted the offensive most valuable player.

Reese later played for the University of Oklahoma.

On the receiving side, Louie finished with 109 yards and a score on 11 catches. Moddelmog had four catches for 89 yards.

Sophomore Jeremy Dry had 84 yards on 10 rushes, and Myron Louie had a touchdown and 53 yards on seven carries.

For Spiro, tailback Brian Steele finished with 150 yards on 23 carries. He scored a rushing TD and caught a 24-yard pass for a score.