Arlington Martin celebrated a dominating 7-on-7 performance by hoisting the Red Bull Game Breakers National Finals trophy Saturday night at Southern Methodist University‘s Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
Martin finished off an undefeated run through a 20-team field with a 27-4 victory over Pennsylvania small-school power Clairton in the championship game.
Quarterback Brodie Lambert tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Kyle Hicks and was named MVP.
"Our team was down several times," said Lambert, "but these guys never quit."
The title-game victory completed a 3-0 night and a 7-0 record in the two-day National Finals. Combined with Martin's 5-0 performance in the Fort Worth Qualifier in June, the Warriors were a perfect 12-0 in Red Bull games this summer.
"We never wanted it to come to a double elimination game," said Hicks, who was also utilized as a pass rusher in addition to receiving duties.
"This put our school on the map," Hicks added.
Martin's most critical moment came in its first game of the evening when it trailed Houston Westside at halftime, 12-3.
The Warriors rallied to win 23-12 with Lambert hardly missing on a pass in the second half.
"We knew we had come this far and we didn't want to see it end," said Lambert, who is finally getting his chance after an injury-plagued couple of seasons at Martin.
Clairton, a Pittsburgh-area school with an enrollment shrunk by the closure of nearby steel mills, earned its place in the finals by defeating third-place Westside, 26-14.
But a thin bench finally caught up with the Pennsylvania team.
"We tried hard all the time," said senior quarterback Capri Thompson. "We play with a lot of heart."
Westside quarterback Khaleb Kazmi said the experience gained this summer will be valuable this fall.
"We are so much better than we were two months ago," Kazmi said.
Evangel Christian of Shreveport, La., finished fourth.
"I don't know what got into us today," said Evangel Christian junior receiver Trent Taylor. "Things were perfectly fine between receiver and quarterback on Friday. I don't think the teams we played were any better. I guess we might have been nervous."
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