AUBURN, Alabama — Spanish Fort quarterback Joel Poe might not have serious interest from college scouts yet, but his performance in the 5A state championship game on Thursday grabbed the attention of everyone in Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Toros beat previously unbeaten McAdory 45-14 to win their second state title in three years.

Poe, the Class 5A championship game MVP, completed 17-of-24 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns. He carried eight times for 43 yards and another touchdown, accounting for four of the Toros’ six touchdowns. He had completions to five different receivers.

His three touchdown passes tied a Class 5A Super Six championship record.

“I really just try to go through my reads and whoever comes through I try to spread the ball around to them,” Poe said.

Defense wins championships: In state championship wins in 2010 and on Thursday, the Spanish Fort Toros have given up a total of 14 points.

On Thursday the Toros held McAdory under 100 total yards until late in the second half and forced three turnovers and four sacks.

Junior Ronald Smith led the Toros in tackles with eight, while junior Matt Hall added seven. Seniors Kylan Cotton and Chris Morehouse and junior Chason Milner had five tackles each.

Senior defensive back Johnny Cook, a Nebraska commitment, had three tackles, a forced fumble and a sack. John Williamson and Marcus Walton also had sacks for the Toros in the win.

Freshman safety Tyler Johnston had six tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception for the Toros. His brother, eighth-grader Thomas Johnston, had three tackles and a sack.

Freeman said it was a blessing to have younger players get valuable experience in big games and in playoff practice.

“Defensively we are going to better next year because a lot of those kids have a year under their belt. We will lost Johnny (Cook) and a couple other seniors like (Chris) Morehouse and Chase Holliman, Marcus Walton. But as a rule, our ninth graders got a lot of experience. We started an eighth and a ninth grader tonight. We feel good about the kids we have coming back.”

Off the field issues don’t deter Toros: Spanish Fort could have let off the field issues derail a state championship season.

Instead, the head coach Mark Freeman said his team learned some tough life lessons persevered through hard times.

The Toros began the year with a nationally televised game against Daphne on ESPN. Spanish Fort won 20-14. A few days after that win, star wide receiver Deon Johnson was arrested on a second degree rape charge. Johnson was arrested again a few weeks later on another rape charge and placed on house arrest. He did not return to the team.

Freeman was proud of the way his players handled that issue, as well as injuries to key players that could have sent the season on a downward spiral.

“This season has been a lesson on life for these kids,” he said. “We had a lot of weird stuff early in the year. We had something happen with one of our kids, and we lost him. We had a great starting linebacker who got injured. We lost a running back. But it is all good now.

“Those kids will carry some of the lessons with them in life, about being a dad, a husband. If they lose a job or something goes bad for them, they are not going to quit. They will go to work to fix it. That’s what we’ve done this year. These kids have grown up, they’ve matured. They have some character.”