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WINSTON-SALEM -- The beautiful thing about perfection is that there's no need to explain it. You just enjoy the ride and say thanks, you were lucky enough to be a part of it.

The Dudley Panthers, who turned football into a bone-rattling symphony of power this year, closed the book on the best season in school history Saturday night by trouncing Kannapolis Brown 34-18 at BB&T Field for their second consecutive 3-AA championship.

"I thought I would cry, but the tears aren't coming yet," senior lineman and captain Josh Jones said. "I'm just so high right now."

The Panthers completed their first ever 16-0 season, became the third Class 3 school to repeat in the last 25 years and finished off a resume that strongly suggests they're the state's best team.

They're the biggest school to finish undefeated, and they already beat Richmond County, which will play for the 4-AA title today. The Panthers have won 22 straight games, including last year's title.

"I told these seniors that if they stayed together, they could do something special at Dudley," said head coach Steven Davis, who hopped up into the stands after the win to hug his family.

Like most every Dudley game this season, this one was won in the trenches.

The Panthers ran for 355 yards and threw the ball once, a 1-yard screen pass to Fred Overby, while Brown managed 32 rushing yards on 29 carries and couldn't throw the ball well enough to make up the deficit.

"We said if we could contain the line of scrimmage, we could have a shot," Davis said. "It seemed like the holes started getting bigger as the game went on."

A huge hole opened on Dudley's ninth play, when quarterback Ricky Lewis rolled left but was met as he turned the corner by Brown cornerback Xavier Watson, who flew at his legs and flipped him in the air. Lewis, who hadn't missed a play for an injury all season, grabbed his left knee and laid on the ground for several moments before limping off with a medical attendant.

That brought in sophomore Demetrius Dick, who had attempted seven passes all season. He handed the ball off twice before Lewis sprang off the trainer's table, called for his helmet and wobbled back onto the field.

"Coach Davis told me to get up and be strong," Lewis said.

The Panthers kept the ball in their running backs' hands the next five plays, but facing a fourth-and-3 from the Brown 16, Lewis burst through an oversized hole and split the seam of the secondary for a 16-yard score and peace of mind that everything was going to be OK.

Lewis ran for 160 yards -- 143 by halftime -- and was named MVP for the second straight year.

"Ricky's a fighter," senior lineman Darius Hall said. "I knew he was going to bounce back up."

Brown, which had won 10 games in a row, struck back five plays later when receiver Colby Reid got behind the Panthers secondary and reeled in a 60-yard touchdown pass, which was 26 yards more than Dudley allowed through the air in all of last week's win over Northeast Guilford.

But the Wonders simply couldn't keep pace with the Panthers, who scored on their first three possessions and five of their first eight.

Fred Overby scampered in from 10 yards out on Dudley's next drive, and Lewis cut back out of traffic, reversed fields and dragged a defender into the end zone for a 17-yard score that made it 20-6 with 3:46 left in the second quarter.

J.R. Peterson added an 9-yard cutback score on Dudley's first drive after halftime, and after a swarm of Panthers sacked Brown quarterback Jamill Lott for an 18-yard loss on fourth-and-3 moments later, Peterson took the next handoff 28 yards untouched for a 34-6 lead. The junior finished with 147 yards on 19 carries.

The Wonders took one last flailing punch, scoring on a nine-play, 79-yard drive late in the third quarter, then recovering a Dudley fumble on the ensuing kickoff and scoring three plays later to pull within 16. They even recovered an onside kick after that, but the Panthers stopped them on downs and killed the Wonders' final drive when Jeremy Reynolds intercepted Lott over the middle.

"We fought as a team, we won as a team," Hall said.

As the Panthers ran the clock down on a magical season, the only drama that remained was whether Davis could stay dry. With the temperature sinking into the 30s, he instructed strength and conditioning coach Curtis McMillan to empty all the coolers with a few minutes remaining. McMillan said he complied, but someone found a way to fill one up and douse Davis.

"I'll have to empty them myself next year," Davis said, smiling a smile that needed no explanation.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com.

Kannapolis Brown 6 0 0 12 -- 18

Greensboro Dudley 8 12 14 0 -- 34

D - Ricky Lewis 16 run (J.R. Peterson run)

B - Colby Reid 60 pass from Jamill Lott (Travis Riley run failed)

D - Fred Overby 10 run (Lewis run failed)

D - Lewis 17 run (Overby run failed)

D - J.R. Peterson 9 run (Lewis run failed)

D - J.R. Peterson 28 run (Justin Ferguson pass from Lewis)

B - Antwoine Jordan 2 run (Lott pass failed)

B - Zach Massey 14 pass from Lott (Lott pass failed)

Brown Dudley

Rushes-Yards 29-32 56-355

Passing yards 163 1

Comp-Att-Int 9-23-2 1-1-0

First downs 11 21

Penalties-Yards 3-25 7-41

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3

Punts-Avg 3-27.7 2-30.5