Chandler 40
Davis 7
Dec. 10, 2005

Chandler dominated every phase of the game in reaping a Class 2A state title from Davis in 2005.

It was Chandler’s second gold ball — the first coming in 1984.

The 2005 title game was played at Moore High School.

The tone was set very early as Chandler’s Ben Casey, a junior at the time, took the opening kickoff 75 yards down the sideline for a score. The Davis Wolves were never able to recover.

The Lions upped their lead to 13-0 when a drive was capped by a 12-yard pass from Craig Lewis to Ross Lane with 7:04 left in the first quarter.

The Wolves’ lone points came next as they made the most of forcing a turnover on fourth-and-short. Quincy Black, brother of Davis quarterback LaQuentin Black, snagged a pass worth 21 yards in the short drive and capped it with a 4-yard rushing touchdown. This made it 13-7, and it was all Chandler from there.

The Lions’ ensuing drive spanned 65 yards and lasted seven plays. Brandon Arms bore the brunt, gaining 47 in four carries and scoring his first of four TDs on the night.

Chandler held a 19-7 lead with 11:19 to go in the first half.

Davis was forced to punt late in the second quarter, but a bobbled snap was taken by Lane to the Wolves’ 30-yard line. The Lions needed just two plays to capitalize on the event as Lewis connected with tight end Jon Evans for a 25-yard gain and Arms ran in from there for his second rushing TD of the contest.

Chandler went into the second half with a commanding 26-7 advantage.

In the third quarter, Chandler’s Casey Smalley snagged a LaQuentin Black pass and raced to the Davis 25. Arms ran three consecutive times and scored on first-and-goal from the 3, and Smalley’s point-after kick made it 33-7 with 9:02 left in the third.

A fumbled punt later gave the Lions a first-and-10 from the Wolves’ 12-yard line, and Arms covered that distance on the first play from scrimmage to end the scoring with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Of winning the gold ball, Arms later said it was “amazing.”

“This is the best feeling in the world. This is a great day,” he said.

Then Chandler head coach Brent LaGere said, “This feels super. I couldn’t have a better feeling. The breaks went our way today.”

The Wolves’ wishbone offense was held to a total of 151 yards on 40 snaps, and LaQuentin Black was limited to 47 rushing yards. Quincy Black finished with 36 yards.

Davis fullback George Russell had just 6 yards on as many totes.

“They are a really good football team,” said Evans, a senior at the time. “We moved our fronts around, and everyone ran to the football.”

Arms served as Chandler’s leading rusher with 131 yards and four TDs on 18 carries. Smalley finished with 73 yards on 16 carries.

After a dominant regular season in 2008, Chandler suffered a setback to Heritage Hall in the championship game and was crowned the Class 2A runner-up. The Lions have since ascended to Class 3A.

Note: Keven Scrutchins contributed to this report.