Malakoff’s Mike Jones (12) runs behind the block of Michael Elliott (25) against Paradise’s Miles Godwin (57) during Thursday’s Class 3A Division I state semifinal football game at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco. Malakoff won 27-19. (Rob Graham/For the Tyler Morning Telegraph)

MALAKOFF — Winning a state championship is hard.

Winning two consecutive state championships is even harder.

Malakoff, which went 16-0 on the way to winning the Class 3A Division I state title in 2023, trailed 19-7 entering the fourth quarter of its semifinal contest last week against Paradise.

The Tigers got an 11-yard touchdown run by Jason Tennyson on the first play of the fourth quarter, and then a Jack Hustead pick six gave Malakoff a 20-19 lead just more than a minute later. Tennyson added a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:20 remaining to give the Tigers a 27-19 victory and send them back to AT&T Stadium to play for a state title for the third time since 2018.

“I don’t know if we played our best game, but a lot of that had to do with Paradise,” Malakoff head football coach Jamie Driskell said. “I’m just proud of the effort and grit and fighting in the fourth quarter. That’s why we’re getting to play in this game.”

“This game” is the Class 3A Division I championship, which will feature Malakoff (15-0) against Columbus (14-1), and it is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

In the 2023 season, Malakoff’s smallest margin of victory in the first 14 games was 30 and that was a 51-21 win over Grandview in the second game of the season. The Tigers then had wins over Brock 38-31 in the semifinals and Franklin 14-7 in the championship game, but it took a while for Malakoff to be tested.

That hasn’t been the case this year.

In the third game of the season, Malakoff needed a 46-yard touchdown pass from Mike Jones to Parker Poteete with 18 seconds left in the game to take a 29-28 win over Madisonville in a game the Tigers trailed 21-7 in the third quarter.

To close the regular season, Malakoff was in a back-and-forth affair with Winnsboro, taking the 35-28 win on a 16-yard touchdown run by Tennyson with 1:25 left in the game.

In the third round of the playoffs against Jefferson, Malakoff trailed 21-17 in the third quarter before coming back for a 31-21 win. And then there was last week’s semifinal rally.

The Tigers believe those previous tests were vital in the come-from-behind win against Paradise.

“One-hundred percent,” Driskell said. “We are battle-tested for sure. These kids have played a lot of football in the last couple of years. And the kids that were on the varsity as sophomores, they played 15 games that year, so they’ve played in a lot of football games. They know the ins and outs of how to get going. We’ve got a lot of experienced kids that know how to handle themselves during big games.”

“It helped a lot, especially starting with Madisonville,” Jones said. “We didn’t know much about them and they came out and hit us in the mouth, and it really showed our grit and determination to go win football games. That’s a championship team right there, not quitting until the very end, until the very last second, that’s how it was. That game, I don’t know how we did it, but I remember the last few seconds, I threw a ball to Parker, and he somehow got in and won the game.”

Now, the Tigers face a Columbus team that has scored 790 points. The offense is powered by TCU signee Adam Schobel at quarterback and Wyoming commit Grayson Rigdon, who has won three football state championships at the Six-Man level, most recently at Benjamin, at running back. The defense is highlighted by TCU signee John Schobel at linebacker.

“They’re so good offensively,” Driskell said. “They got the back that moved in. They’ve got the Schobel kid at quarterback. They’ve got a Mike linebacker, the other Schobel kid. And they’ve got some receivers that can go. We’ve got to cover the whole field on those guys. They’ve scored a lot of points, and teams have tried to do different things against them. Our kids are going to have to play, and we’ve got to keep playing the next play. It’s going to be a fun game.”

“I think it will be really fun,” Poteete said. “We faced Liberty-Eylau and held them to zero. They were a team who put up a lot of points and had some really good kids. We’ve got to shut down their key players. They have a pretty big quarterback. They also have a linebacker who plays tight end. They’ve got a really fast running back. We’ve got to shut them down.”

While Malakoff didn’t get a move-in at running back, the Tigers have added a weapon to their backfield in Jason Tennyson, who ran for 1,389 yards and 26 touchdowns on 213 carries as a sophomore before tearing his ACL on the first day of practice in 2023 and missing the entire state championship season. This year, Tennyson has 163 carries for 1,748 yards and 25 touchdowns, and he has 16 receptions for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s a stud,” Jones said. “It’s a big help having him in the backfield with me.”

The Tigers have won 31 games in a row, not losing since Dec. 8, 2022. A win Thursday would add to that streak, but more importantly would give them consecutive state championships.

“To win this many games in a row is special, there’s no question about it,” Driskell said, “but the ultimate goal was to get to this game and now winning this one game. Whatever happens, it’s been a great ride with a great group of kids. We’re going to miss them whenever they’re gone.”