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WINSTON-SALEM — Page’s defense rose to the occasion, as it had all season, using a remarkable goal-line stand to close the first half and picking off four passes to deliver the storied Pirates football program its first state championship in a quarter-century.

In a clash of undefeated teams, Page outslugged Garner 35-21 in the NCHSAA Class 4-AA state title game before more than 10,000 fans Saturday night at BB&T Field. The Pirates held the Trojans to their lowest offensive output of the season to complete an undefeated campaign and a banner weekend for Guilford County.

Page’s first state championship since 1985 came less than 24 hours after Northern Guilford secured its second consecutive Class 3-AA title Friday night in Chapel Hill.

“It was amazing,” Page defensive back Savon Wall said of his team’s victory. “I love this team to death. ... I felt like an underdog, I played like an underdog and we prevailed.”

Page (15-0) quarterback James Summers, an N.C. State commitment who was named title game MVP, completed 11 of 16 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, to Orlando Hatfield and Brian Spain. He added 116 yards on 14 rushes, and even grabbed an interception.

Wall twice made interceptions in Garner (15-1) territory, and Shaun Workinger scored two touchdowns for the Pirates, his second giving Page a 28-14 third-quarter lead to stop a Trojans rally. William Henry also picked off a pass.

“The defense won our championship for us tonight,” Summers said.

The victory marks the first time Guilford County schools have won two state football titles in the same season in nearly 50 years. Jamestown won the Class AA Region 2 title and Sumner shared the Class A Region 3 crown with East Surry in 1962.

“Our kids believed they were supposed to be here, and I believe they not only deserved to be here, but to win it, and we did,” Page coach Kevin Gillespie said. “ ... Hopefully people will realize that there’s some good football in the Triad area. There are two teams that obviously proved that, but there are some other good teams around there, too, so don’t sleep on the Triad.”

Page built a 21-0 lead, opening the second half by marching 79 yards in eight plays for what appeared to be a victory-sealing touchdown. But Garner responded in a hurry, striking twice in 73 seconds to narrow its deficit to 21-14 midway through the third quarter.

Juwan Moye blasted downfield on 68-yard scoring run, his first of two TDs, and a squib kick recovered by Garner set up the Trojans deep in Page territory. Garner receiver Damian Ellis completed a flanker option pass to Anthony Tucker for a 31-yard TD, cutting the Trojans’ deficit to a single score.

“I think we felt too good” after building that 21-0 lead, Page running back Drew Rogers said. “We just had to calm down and just settle down and play football.”

Summers remained poised, running for 55 yards on Page’s next play from scrimmage, and the Pirates reestablished a 14-point advantage minutes later when Workinger scored from the 2 for his second TD.

Rogers rumbled 18 yards to push Page’s advantage back to 21 points, at 35-14, early in the fourth quarter.

Garner’s offense had been limited to less than five TDs just once, in a 29-7 victory against Raleigh Athens Drive in Week 2.

But the Trojans hadn’t faced a defense as stout as Page, which shut out five opponents this season and gave up eight second-half points combined the previous two weeks while dispatching two-time state champ Matthews Butler and Charlotte Mallard Creek.

“We play a hard man coverage,” Page defensive back Ed Britt said. “We play man a lot. And then the offense scored, which kept (Garner) down, and as the game went on, they had to score so they ended up throwing the ball. And our DBs, we played the ball right. ... We did our job.”

Garner quarterback Vincent Jefferies completed just 12 of 28 passes for 130 yards and four interceptions. Moye led the Trojans with 139 yards on 21 carries.

After Page twice used a short field to build a 14-0 lead, Garner raced 81 yards in less than 2 minutes. But the Trojans’ drive stalled just short of the goal line, and only seconds before halftime, when Moye caught a fourth down pass and slipped to the turf inside the Page 1.

“Last week we weren’t satisfied just getting to the state championship,” Summers said, “but now we’re satisfied. We did what we said we were going to do.”

Contact Jason Wolf at 373-7034 or jason.wolf@news-record.com

Page—Brian Spain 6 pass from James Summers (Ryan Jackson kick)

Page—Shaun Workinger 6 run (Jackson kick)

Page—Orlando Hatfield 13 pass from Summers (Jackson kick)

Garner—Juwan Moye 68 run (Tyler White kick)

Garner—Anthony Tucker 31 pass from Damian Ellis (White kick)

Page—Workinger 2 run (Jackson kick)

Page—Drew Rogers 18 run (Jackson kick)

Garner—Moye 7 run (White kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs—Garner 17, Page 18

Rushes-Yards—Garner 34-177, Page 38-203

Passing—Garner 161, Page 131

Comp-Att-Int—Garner 13-31-4, Page 11-16-1

Return yards—Garner 18, Page 32

Punts-Avg.—Garner 4-34.5, Page 4-42.0

Fumbles-Lost—Garner 1-0, Page 2-0

Penalties-Yards—Garner 12-98, Page 11-98

Time of possession—Garner 24:12, Page 23:48

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Garner—Juwan Moye 21-139, Tyler Hinton 3-13, Demetrius Fairley 4-13, Andre Gillespie 3-10, Anthony Tucker 1-3, Vincent Jefferies 2-(-1).

Page—James Summers 14-116, Shaun Workinger 6-51, Drew Rogers 11-32, Jalen Gavis 1-10, Orland Hatfield 4-(-1), team 2-(-5).

PASSING

Garner—Vincent Jefferies 12-28-4-130, Juwan Moye 0-2-0-0, Damian Ellis 1-1-31-0.

Page—James Summers 11-16-1-131.

RECEIVING

Garner—Juwan Moye 4-66, Damian Ellis 3-18, Brayden Sims 2-29, Anthony Tucker 1-31, Tim Thorb 1-13, Andre Gillespie 1-36, Demetrius Fairley 1-(-2).

Page—Orlando Hatfield 4-26, Drew Rogers 2-36, Jordan Putnam 2-30, Shaun Workinger 1-20, Tevin Morrison 1-13, Brian Spain 1-6.

GAME INSIDER

Why Page won

The best team all season showed up on the final day, a team built on speed and big defensive plays. Page had more weapons — a quarterback who could run or pass, running backs who could break long ones and could get the tough yards inside, receivers who could catch passes over the middle and deep into the secondary. The state-champion Pirates made every big play and wore down a team that hadn't lost all year.

Why Garner lost

Garner fell behind 21-0 then made a comeback that ultimately fell far short. A long drive at the end of the first half ended on the 1-yard line as Page made its biggest defensive stand of the year. Forced to throw the ball to stay in the game, Garner saw four of QB Vincent Jefferies’ passes picked off. 

Records

Garner 15-1, Page 15-0

Play of the game

After seeing his team’s 21-0 lead cut to 21-14 with two quick Garner touchdowns, Page QB James Summers, on the very next play from scrimmage, took the snap from the shotgun and ran around left end for 55 yards to the Garner 24. Page scored six plays later, and Garner didn’t recover.

What he said ...

“I’m going to try and sit back and enjoy this — at least until January.” — Page coach Kevin Gillespie

Noting the game

Scotty McCreery, the 2011 “American Idol” winner was in the crowd. McCreery is a Garner graduate. ... Page defeated three teams this season that ended their year with only one loss (Northern, Mallard Creek and Garner). ... Page has now won 32 NCHSAA state championships in all sports since 1958. ... Garner had outscored its opponents by more than 400 points this season (697-262), an average margin of victory of almost 30 points per game. ... Midway through the first half, security had to open the upper portion of the stands to increase seating for Page fans. ... Blake Hickman, a linebacker, led all Page defenders with nine solo tackles. Defensive player of the game Savon Wall had two interceptions.

— Ed Hardin, staff writer