AUBURN, Ala. – The Spanish Fort Toros held the vaunted Briarwood Christian Lion offense scoreless for the first time since 2005 and championship game MVP Ameriol Finley rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns as the Toros won their first AHSAA Class 5A state championship on Thursday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Toros (13-2) dominated on defense, forcing three fumbles, two interceptions, two turnovers on downs and a punt against a Lion offense that had averaged 31.7 points per game in 2010.

“We knew Briarwood was a great football team and they were going to be hard to stop,” Spanish Fort coach Bryant Vincent said. “Defensively, we preached all week that we had to get takeaways.

“Our defense did what we asked them to do.”

Senior linebacker Blake Dees led the Toros with seven tackles and forced two of Briarwood’s fumbles.

“On the fumbles I was coming in there hard and I am always looking for the ball,” Dees said. “I just stuck my hand in there and tried to rip it out.”

Jonathan Long had a fumble recovery and an interception, David Sullivan and Daniel Pond had fumble recoveries and Brett Lesinger added an interception for the Toros. Jared Butrico added six tackles, and Garrett Horst had five stops in the win.

Spanish Fort scored its first touchdown on a 9-yard Finley run in the first quarter. The Toros drove 54 yards on eight plays for the score. Finley scored Spanish Fort’s second touchdown from three yards out in the fourth quarter. The Toros used a 12-play, 48-yard drive to drain more than six minutes off the clock for the score. Spanish Fort held the ball for a Super 6 record 31:13 of possession time.

“I busted out into tears as soon as the seconds started ticking down,” Finley said of winning the state championship. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

Finley gave credit to his offensive line, led by senior center Reese Dismukes, and to Vincent for getting the team prepared to beat Briarwood.

“It was a special feeling to come out and play our last game with all my boys,” Dismukes said. “There is nothing like high school football, and to play in this stadium with all my guys, it was great.”

Dismukes said the Toro offensive linemen liked having the game put on their backs.

“We dominate up front,” he said. “That’s what we like to do is run the ball. We just like to smash it.”

Vincent led the Toros to the 5A title in his fourth season at the school. His first Toro team went 4-6, but reached the playoffs in his second year and was one play away from reaching the Super 6 last season.

“I have said for four years that Spanish Fort is a special place because of a lot of different things,” Vincent said. “I just couldn’t be more proud of our community and of our coaches. This is obviously a very special moment for Spanish Fort and I couldn’t be more proud of our entire program.”