RALEIGH, N.C. — Rolesville watched its quick-strike offense build a big lead, then watched that lead disappear before halftime. When the Rams built that same lead again in the second half, they made sure it didn’t slip away.

Too much was on the line.

Rolesville is back in the football state championship game for the second time in school history after winning 38-31 at Cardinal Gibbons in the 4A East regional final on Friday.

The Rams will play Grimsley in the state championship next Friday at UNC’s Kenan Stadium at 7 p.m. Rolesville’s only loss this year came to Grimsley in the second week of the regular season. The Whirlies are still unbeaten this year.

But to set up that rematch, the Rams had to win another.

In the regular season, Rolesville (14-1) defeated Gibbons (12-2) 30-27 in overtime, and this too was a back-and-forth classic.

Rolesville trailed 24-21 at halftime after jumping out to a 21-10 lead. The Rams missed a field goal on its first drive then scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives. Two of those drives were back-to-back thanks to an onside kick from Riley Daniels that he recovered.

A 6-yard touchdown run by Amir Brown, a 30-yard pass from Braden Atkinson to Jack McHugh, and a 74-yard pass from Atkinson to Jaedon Alford — who broke about 4-6 tackles on his winding catch-and-run to the end zone — accounted for the Rams’ points. Despite a 1-yard run by Gibbons quarterback Gannon Jones, Rolesville led 21-10 with 8:38 left in the second quarter.

Needing to keep up with the Rams, Gibbons did just that with a 26-yard trick play pass from Jones to Adam Hammond — an offensive lineman who lined up as an eligible receiver — and a 6-yard pass from Jones to Kendall Scotton that was set up by a Rolesville fumble.

Gibbons had erased an 11-point deficit in less than four minutes and now led by three.

Two quick drives in the second half pushed the Rams back in front for good.

Atkinson tossed a 34-yard touchdown to Alford, who once again broke free from players in the secondary, and a 64-yard deep ball to Gavin Waddell.

On the night, Rolesville had four scoring drives of less than 90 seconds: 34 seconds, 25 seconds, 1 minute and 9 seconds, and 10 seconds.

Atkinson was 11 of 21 passing for 312 yards and four touchdowns for the Rams. Waddell had three receptions for 77 yards and a score, A.J. Roberts had three for 80, Alford had four for 125 and two scores, and McHugh had one for 30 and a touchdown.

The Rams rolled up 474 yards of offense.

Gibbons had the only touchdown of the fourth quarter, a 6-yard bootleg by Jones, but a late field goal by Daniels pushed the lead back to seven with 4:41 remaining, and Cannon Marshall picked off a deep pass on the first play of the ensuing drive to seal the deal for Rolesville.

Jones finished 16 of 31 passing for 204 yards, accounting for all four touchdowns — two passing and two rushing.

The two teams had never met before the 2021 regional final but have now played in the postseason in three of the last four years, each time coming in either the fourth or fifth round. Rolesville leads the all-time matchups 3-2.