BIRMINGHAM — Bayside Academy clawed back from a slow start and twice pulled within a score, but the Admirals couldn’t overcome Mars Hill Bible’s dominant rushing attack in a 38-21 loss in the AHSAA Class 3A state championship at Protective Stadium.

Despite entering the title game with one of the state’s most explosive offenses, Bayside struggled to capitalize on short fields and couldn’t generate its usual big plays. Meanwhile, Mars Hill’s motion-heavy wing-T attack looked every bit as dominant as it had all season. The Admirals had few answers for the Panthers’ physical stable of running backs, a mismatch that ultimately defined the championship.

“They got great players and run an efficient offense,” Bayside head coach Barrett Trotter said. “They run the wing-T as good as anyone I have seen. When you have a great system, when you have great players, you’ll be tough to beat.”

Bayside relied on its defense early, stuffing Mars Hill’s opening series and flipping field position with a punt downed at the Panthers’ 1-yard line. But the Admirals couldn’t capitalize, and Mars Hill answered with a 99-yard march down the field as running back Jaxon Penn capped the drive with a 2-yard score on 4th-and-goal for a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

The Admirals were handed another chance after a quick three-and-out when senior Monroe Partin recovered a muffed punt; but yet another three-and-out kept them scoreless heading into the second quarter.

Bayside’s defense again steadied things early in the second, with a sack by Amos McDaniel helping force a Mars Hill punt. Trotter credited the Admiral defense for their effort and keeping the team within striking distance.

“We were sputtering in the first half offensively,” Trotter said. “Just too many penalties, couldn’t sustain drives. The defense kept us in it; and we knew that they were going to.”

The Admirals briefly thought they’d surrendered a defensive touchdown on a backward pass, but the call was overturned, and Davis Barnett converted a third down with a strike to Bo Miller. Still searching for consistency though, Bayside was forced to punt again — and this time Mars Hill had a quick response as running back Hudson Higgins sprinted 34 yards for a 14-0 Panthers lead.

Bayside finally broke through late in the half when Walker Collins turned a short catch in the flats into a 1-yard touchdown setup. Noah Cain was the scoring culprit, but a failed two-point try sent the Admirals into halftime trailing 14-6.

The Admirals’ offense found momentum in the third after Mars Hill settled for a field goal on a long opening drive. Barnett hit Cain on a deep post to flip the field on the ensuing drive, but Bayside was stalled there and sent Jack Wilkinson out to kick a short field goal.

However, a roughing the holder penalty would put the offense back on the field to allow Davis to roll left and connect with a wipe-open Collins for a touchdown. Billy Neill powered in the two-point conversion attempt, giving Bayside all the momentum as they pulled within three entering the fourth.

Every Admirals surge met a Mars Hill answer — a play-action deep ball from Lawson Frederick to Isaiah Owens set up a short Panthers rushing touchdown early in the fourth. And after penalties pushed Bayside into a 4th-and-32 on the following drive, Penn delivered the backbreaker — a long touchdown run to make it 31-14 midway through the quarter.

Cain added a late score on a screen pass as Bayside marched once more, but the Admirals ran out of time on their comeback bid.

Mars Hill secured its second straight state championship, while Bayside came up short of the Blue Map in its second opportunity in the program’s 25-year history, the other coming in its lone previous title appearance in 2015. The Admirals close their landmark season at 13-2.

“I am proud of our guys, proud of the work they have put in this season,” Trotter said after the game. “Nothing about today, nothing about that game changes how great this season was. Making history at Bayside with the best season they’ve ever had is something special. I am obviously disappointed by the outcome, but that doesn’t take away from anything we’ve done.”