RALEIGH, N.C. — Tarboro is back.

Then again, did they ever truly leave?

The Vikings ended a two-year title drought, an eternity by their standards and captured their ninth N.C. High School Athletic Association football championship title, defeating Corvian Community, 45-24.

Saturday’s contest at Carter-Finley Stadium was the eighth consecutive title game appearance for Tarboro. The previous two years, Mount Airy had the Vikings’ number. The Cardinals, in their third season of having a program, were making their first appearance.

“It was a great high school football game,” Vikings head coach Jeff Craddock said. “I thought we had them on the ropes a couple of times, but they just kept responding the second half.”

Corvian Community made things interesting in their first trip to the finals. The Cardinals made it a one-score game, 24-17, with 8:49 remaining, after a 1-yard score on 4th and 1. But the Vikings stuck to their guns, or their T (formation).

“But I was also very impressed because everytime they responded in the second half, the guys that I coach responded as well,” Craddock said. “I’m very proud of these guys. I thought we played extremely hard tonight, we were extremely dialed in.”

It took Kamerin McDowell-Moore one play to cover 60 yards and score, making it 30-17.

After Corvian Community failed to move the ball and turned it over on downs, McDowell-Moore capped off the hat trick, scoring from 7-yards away.

Carson Nagel, inserted into the game at quarterback after an injury to A.J. Jackson, threw a 33-yard touchdown to Doug Quarles III with 4:34 remaining, making it a 14-point game with 4:33 left.

But the game breaker was McDowell-Moore was too much to handle. His final score covered 40 yards, giving him 233 yards and four touchdowns. McDowell-Moore was named the game’s overall MVP.

“The hard work that I put in for it with my teammates … without them it wouldn’t be possible,” McDowell-Moore said.

Tarboro, playing in its 15th state championship game and eighth in a row, built an 18-3 halftime lead thanks to — what else? — the running game.

The Vikings (14-1) rushed for 238 yards (on 25 carries) in the first half. They did attempt one pass, just to keep the Cardinals honest, but didn’t need to do much through the air.

Caiden Everette got the Vikings on the board first with an 11-yard run on the opening drive.

McDowell-Moore and Mason Satterfield each scored in the second quarter. Corvian Community got a 29-yard field goal on its opening drive for their lone score of the first half.

Tarboro’s Kip Biggs picked off a Jackson pass to end a scoring threat by the Cardinals in the second quarter. In the first half, 101 of the 152 total yards for Corvian Community (15-1) came through the air.

Tarboro now has a 9-6 record in state championship games with a 5-3 mark in its eight-year run of appearances. Its only loss this year came to Havelock, at No. 1 seed and fourth-round participant in the 3A playoffs.

“Playoff time we picked it up,” Craddock said. “You saw a team that was dead set focused on the mission and that’s what we talked about in the pregame. Now the mission is complete. The goal is never to just get here, the goal is to win here. They earned it, they worked hard.”

Dropping the last two titles made life hard in the Title Town of Tarboro. For these seniors, bringing a championship back home rights all the wrongs.

“It was really disappointing losing two years in a row,” Vikings’ linebacker Cole Craddock, the defensive MVP said. “That’s what drove us to this game tonight. Us seniors we’ve been preaching all week, win or win. Losing wasn’t an option tonight. We weren’t going to lose again.”

Corvian already made history as the first charter school to make a football championship game.

“I can’t be more proud of my boys,” Cardinals head coach Chris Amill Sr. said. “We fought to the end.”

Just three years into their existence, Amill told the media the program was a little ahead of schedule, but he expected to be in the final game of the season.

“We had a great season last year, battled through a lot of injuries,” Amill said. “I knew once we got healthy and got a couple of guys back that were injured that we would be here. I didn’t expect 15-0, but I did expect the end of the season to be where we are.”

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: Chris Gunter from Tarboro and Jayden Summers from Corvian Community.

Final stats

Offense

Tarboro

Passing — Tyler Powell 0-for-1 passing; Rushing — Kamerin McDowell-Moore 20 carries, 233 yards, 4 TDs, Mason Satterfield 13 carries, 146 yards, 2 TDs, Caiden Everette 9 carries, 40 yards, 1 TD.

Corvian Community

Passing — A.J. Jackson 18-of-28 passing, 213 yards, 1 INT, Carson Nagel 2-of-2 passing, 35 yards, 1 TD; Rushing — Noah Best 10 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD, Cam Johnson 15 carries, 52 yards, A.J. Jackson 19 carries, 10 yards, 1 TD; Receiving — Noah Best 11 receptions, 122 yards, Doug Quarles III 4 receptions, 102 yards, 1 TD, B.J. McAdoo 1 reception, 18 yards, Cam Johnson 4 receptions, 6 yards.

Defense

Tarboro

Leading tacklers — Cole Craddock 17 (2 TFL), Tyler Powell 11 (2 TFL), Keivious Bridgers 9, Cam’Ron Harper 7, Josiah Dickens 6 (3 TFL); Sacks — Josiah Dickens 2, Tyler Powell 1.5, Ny’quaveon Davis 1, Cole Craddock 0.5; INTs — Kip Biggs 1.

Corvian Community

Leading tacklers — A.J. Jackson 10, Cam Johnson 8, B.J. McAdoo 7, Nathanael Kamba 5.

Scoring plays

TARB — Caiden Everette 11-yard run, XP no good; 6-0, 10:17 1Q
CORV — Cooper Peterson 29-yard field goal; 6-3, 2:49 1Q
TARB — Kamerin McDowell-Moore 10-yard run, 2-point try failed; 12-3, 10:28 2Q
TARB — Mason Satterfield 23-yard run, XP no good; 18-3, 2:01 2Q
CORV — A.J. Jackson 3-yard run, Cooper Peterson XP good; 18-10, 4:06 3Q
TARB — Mason Satterfield 13-yard run, 2-point try failed; 24-10, 0:32 3Q
CORV — Noah Best 1-yard run, Coopeter Peterson XP good; 24-17, 8:49 4Q
TARB — Kamerin McDowell-Moore 60-yard run, XP blocked; 30-17, 8:39 4Q
TARB — Kamerin McDowell-Moore 7-yard run, 2-point run by Tyler Powell good; 38-17, 6:31 4Q
CORV — Carson Nagel 33-yard pass to Doug Quarles III, Cooper Peterson XP good; 38-24, 4:34 4Q
TARB — Kamerin McDowell-Moore 40-yard run, Cole Craddock XP good; 45-24, 1:21 4Q

Total numbers

Tarboro: 20 first downs; 419 yards rushing; 0 yards passing; 419 total yards; 26:09 time of possession; 4-of-7 third down conversions, 1-of-2 fourth down conversions

Corvian Community: 23 first downs; 122 yards rushing; 248 yards passing; 370 total yards; 21:51 time of possession; 7-of-17 third down conversions, 5-of-6 fourth down conversions