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Cedar City • As good as the Diamond Ranch Diamondbacks had been all season, they knew the Kanab Cowboys were far from a pushover.

And when the chips were down, the offense had an answer that put the capper on an undefeated season.

Quarterback Thomas McCann scored on a 1-yard run with 3:37 remaining, and the Diamondbacks defense recovered its fifth fumble of the day a little over one minute later as they survived for a 23-20 victory to win its first Class 1A state championship before a big crowd at Eccles Coliseum.

Linebacker Jack Dowdell added a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first half as Diamond Ranch finished the year 11-0.

"When it happens, you're in shock for a little bit, but it feels great," Dowdell said of the touchdown that put Diamond Ranch up 16-6 early in the third quarter after the extra point was blocked. "The state title is all we talked about since the beginning of May. It was close, but we won."

Things looked bleak for the Diamondbacks when the Cowboys struck twice in the second half to grab the lead. Quarterback Layne Anderson found Brandon Southwick on a 5-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left in the third quarter to close the gap to 16-13.

Then after a Diamond Ranch punt, Anderson led the Cowboys on an 80-yard drive that he finished off with his second touchdown run of the day from two yards out that gave them a 20-16 lead with 3:53 left.

As the emotion hit a fever pitch on the Diamondbacks bench, head coach Robbie Dias said the achievement was still there for the taking.

"For a minute, you lose heart and go 'we had a good run and we did our best.' To see them battle back, fight back and want it that badly, they deserve it, for sure," Dias said.

Diamond Ranch's winning moment came 16 seconds after Anderson scored. Starting from its own 35, running back Aaron Kern found a hole on the left side and raced 64 yards to the Kanab 1. McCann found the end zone on the next play.

Kanab still had a chance. But when the defense recovered the final fumble by the Cowboys, the countdown to the celebration was on.

"When we got that last fumble, we could breathe a little easier," Dias said.

The Diamondbacks got a 34-yard field goal from Cory Lewis in the first quarter and took the lead for the first time in the second when Kern scored on a 7-yard touchdown run.

Kanab made its first appearance in the state title game since 2007 and finished the year with a 9-4 record. —

Storylines

R The Diamondbacks recovered five Kanab fumbles, including one that sealed the win with 2:21 to play in the fourth quarter.

• Diamond Ranch completes an undefeated season (11-0) for the school's first state championship in football.