On the final day of the high school football season, South Warren’s players and coaches gathered together around a gleaming trophy at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

All the long hours in the weight room and on the practice field, all the challenges the Spartans had faced from a rigorous schedule, all of that toil and unceasing effort had been to enjoy this very moment – South Warren can once again claim the title as state champion.

“That was a heckuva game,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith told the Daily News on Saturday after his team’s 38-26 victory over Frederick Douglass in the Class 5A state championship. “That is what it is all about. That’s what you do this for – the preparation. When you get in games like this you have plays you draw up on the board and they look pretty, but these games come down to guys making plays. Our players made big plays in big situations when they had to. They’ve done it all year long. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Smith’s players made plays, no question – senior quarterback Caden Veltkamp, a Western Kentucky commit, passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns to cap off a stellar prep career. Fellow WKU commit Avrin Bell had five catches for 95 yards and an interception on the final play of the game, while Luke Burton had two catches for 50 yards and a team-leading 79 yards rushing.

Then there was senior tight end/linebacker Tyler Snell, who hauled in two of Veltkamp’s TD passes – a 49-yarder in the first quarter, then a 31-yarder in the fourth – and totaled a team-high nine tackles to garner the Most Valuable Player of the Game honor.

It was a dream the Spartans made a reality through their hard work and talent. South Warren finished the year with a 14-1 record highlighted by a pair of wins over crosstown rival Bowling Green, the second a 28-3 victory in the second round of the state playoffs. South Warren then dispatched South Oldham 47-13 in its final home game before hitting the road to face undefeated Woodford County. The Spartans simply demolished the Yellow Jackets, outscoring the hosts 46-3 in the first half on the way to a 46-25 win.

That earned the program its first state championship appearance since winning the Class 5A title in 2018 – and the rest is history.

“We’ve all dreamed of this – our senior year, coming out with a state title – and it happened,” Snell said afterward.

The Spartans weren’t the only area team contending for a state championship this past weekend. Russellville, under coach Mikie Benton, came up just short in a hard-fought 30-27 loss to Pikeville in the Class A state championship. It was Russellville’s first appearance in the state championship since 1990, and the Panthers gave every indication they intend to get back to Lexington soon after finishing with a stellar 12-2 record.

Two other area programs also nearly reached the state championship, as Logan County fell to eventual state champion Boyle County in the Class 5A state semifinals and Glasgow lost to Class 3A state runner-up Paducah Tilghman in the semifinals.

But in a year of great football for southcentral Kentucky, South Warren stood alone as champions in Lexington.