CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Monroe’s last three seasons have ended with single-digit losses in the postseason, but the heartbreak melted away with the final seconds on Saturday.

The Redhawks polished off an undefeated year with a 35-25 victory over Northeastern in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A football championship at UNC’s Kenan Stadium.

“We felt like the last couple of years the monkey has been on our back particularly in the third round,” Monroe coach Johnny Sowell said.

No more.

Monroe (15-0) put the game away with a 18-yard run by Zion Lindsey with 2:18 to go. The Redhawks had quickly erased an 18-14 halftime deficit with two Nymir Kendall runs, of 24 and 4 yards out, within a 3 minute, 21 second span to take a 28-18 lead that they never relinquished. Neither drive was longer than four plays.

Lindsey was a work horse, in the fourth quarter particularly, earning MVP honors for his 18 carries and 116 yards yards rushing with one touchdown. Kendall had 13 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

“The bottom line was, we’re a running football team too,” Sowell said. “We said we were going to run the football and we came out in the second half and ran the football.”

Monroe cranked out 226 yards rushing and commanded the ball for 32:40 of game time to keep Northeastern’s quick-strike offense — the Eagles ended with 427 yards of offense themselves but only 154 in the second half — off the field for much of the second half.

“Defensively, I thought (Monroe) played way better in the second half than they did the first half,” Northeastern coach Antonio Moore said.

The Monroe defense responded after Northeastern had clawed their way back into it with a 2-yard pass from Trevaris Jones to Zion Demps on the last play of the third quarter. The Eagles never scored again.

Northeastern led at halftime thanks to three long touchdowns — racking up 273 total yards of offense — followed by three missed extra point and two-point tries.

Northeastern struck on the first drive as Tyelle Saunders took a Jones pass on 4th-and-10 for 29 yards to paydirt, which was answered in less than a minute by a 70-yard pass from Kaegan Chambers to Jordan Young. Young caught the pass over one defender then weaved his way to the end zone, and the Redhawks led 7-6.

Saunders finished with seven receptions for 107 yards and one score for the Eagles, while Young had two receptions for 79 yards and a score for Monroe, earning both players their teams’ respective Most Outstanding Player awards on offense.

Jones’ 22-yard dime to Unique Blount made it 12-7, but Chambers’ 32-yard scramble made it 14-12, but Northeastern’s Carren Armstrong took a 27-yard run up the gut for the first half’s final score. Northeastern’s secondary stepped up with two first-half interceptions by Khamani Bennett. Bennett was named his team’s Most Outstanding Player on Defense.

“We had three turnovers in the first half and we just didn’t capitalize on it,” Moore said.

One of Bennett’s interceptions helped stop a possible momentum shift after Jesus Jarquin-Ambrosio blocked a punt to set up a short field. Jarquin-Ambrosio had six tackles and two passes broken up to help earn Most Outstanding Player on defense.

Northeastern is now 0-4 in state title games, while Monroe is 2-3. The Redhawks’ last title was in 2015 with a win over Bunn.

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: DaKari Adams from Northeastern and Jaquin-Ambrosio from Monroe.

Final stats

Offense

Northeastern

Passing — Trevaris Jones 12-of-25 passing, 177 yards, 3 TDs, Jaylin Mallory 1-of-2 passing, 26 yards, 1-of-6 passing, 9 yards, 1 INT; Rushing — Carren Armstrong 11 carries, 113 yards, 1 TD, Ty’jae Simpson 6 carries, 39 yards, Christian Powell 1 carry, 19 yards, Tyell Saunders 1 carry, 15 yards, Jaylin Mallory 5 carries, 12 yards, Zak Ishman 2 carries, 10 yards, Uzziah Harney 1 carry, 4 yards, Trevaris Jones 9 carries, 3 yards; Receiving — Tyell Saunders 7 receptions, 107 yards, 1 TD, Ty’jae Simpson 1 reception, 56 yards, Unique Blount 1 reception, 22 yards, 1 TD, Jakael Brooks 2 receptions, 12 yards, Da’mari McNeill 1 reception, 7 yards, Khamani Bennett 1 reception, 6 yards, Zion Demps, 1 reception, 2 yards, 1 TD.

Monroe

Passing — Kaegan Chambers 6-of-14 passing, 130 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs; Rushing — Zion Lindsey 18 carries, 116 yards, 1 TD, Nymir Kendall 13 carries, 79 yards, 2 TDs, Kaegan Chambers 7 carries, 34 yards, 1 TD, Jeremiah Brown 1 carry, 2 yards; Receiving — Jordan Clark 2 receptions, 79 yards, 1 TD, Jamari Clark 4 receptions, 51 yards.

Defense

Northeastern

Leading tacklers — Maurice Bowser 12 (1 TFL), Carren Armstrong 9, Unique Blount 6 (1 TFL); INTs — Khamani Bennett 2, Unique Blount 1.

Monroe

Leading tacklers — Jeremiah Lindsey 11 (2 TFL), Jesus Jarquin-Ambrosio 6, Joey Shearin 5; INTs — Joey Shearin 1; Other — Jesus Jarquin-Ambrosio 1 FR, 1 blocked punt.

Scoring Summary

NE — Trevaris Jones 29-yard pass to Tyelle Saunders, XP no good; 6-0, 9:38 1Q
MON — Kaegan Chambers 70-yard pass to Jordan Young, Brandon Najera XP good; 7-6, 8:43 1Q
NE — Trevaris Jones 22-yard pass to Unique Blount, 2-pt try failed; 12-7, 1:07 1Q
MON — Kaegan Chambers 32-yard run, Brandon Najera XP good; 14-12, 10:44 2Q
NE — Carren Armstrong 27-yard run, 2-pt try intercepted; 18-14, 9:13 2Q
MON — Nymir Kendall 24-yard run, Brandon Najera XP good; 21-18, 11:21 3Q
MON — Nymir Kendall 4-yard run, Brandon Najera XP good; 28-18, 8:00 3Q
NE — Trevaris Jones 2-yard pass to Zion Demps, Julian Jones XP good; 28-25, 0:00 3Q
MON — Zion Lindsey 18-yard run, Brandon Najera XP good; 35-25, 2:18 4Q

Total numbers

Northeastern: 20 first downs; 215 yards rushing; 212 yards passing; 427 total yards; 21:43 time of possession; 6-of-15 third down conversions, 1-of-3 fourth down conversions

Monroe: 17 first downs; 226 yards rushing; 130 yards passing; 356 total yards; 32:40 time of possession; 4-of-9 third down conversions, 0-of-4 fourth down conversions