Matched up against the Freedom Cowboys, Southern Prep’s football team thought it might be in for a rough night Monday evening at the National High School Association of 8-Man Football’s Division II National Championship in Panama City, Florida.

The Fighting Rangers had never defeated Freedom in their program history and were just coming off a tough loss against Evangel, 36-0, that dropped them down to the Division II bracket. But they stormed back and earned a 30-18 victory to win the title.

Lizi Arbogast is the sports editor at Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc.