The No. 1 Madonna Blue Dons defense was too stingy for the No. 2 Man High Hillbillies Saturday night as Man fell, 27-7, in the Class A state championship in Wheeling.

Madonna’s defense held Man scoreless for three quarters and the Blue Dons offense built a 27-0 lead.

The Billies finally got on the scoreboard late in the game on a Ryan Crum pass to Evan Riggins for a 13-yard touchdown and Derrick Earnest booted the point after touchdown to make it 27-7 with 5:31 left in the game.

Man recovered a Madonna fumble at the 7:21 point in the fourth to set up the touchdown. The Hillbillies broke into Blue Dons territory, reaching the 13 on a 21-yard catch by Cody Owens. Crum also hit Hatfield with an 18-yard completion on the drive, which went seven plays for 54 yards.

But, for the rest of the game, it was all Madonna.

The Blue Dons scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first half to dig Man a hole from which the Hillbillies could not escape.

Man failed to convert on its first possession of the game and was forced to punt the ball back to the Blue Dons.

Madonna drew first blood when Connor Arlia took the Hillbillies’ punt and returned it 70 yards for the touchdown. Jimmy Deter, who gave the field-opening block for Arlia on the TD run, booted the point after touchdown to give the Blue Dons a 7-0 lead with 10:19 left in the first quarter.

On Madonna’s third possession of the game, the Blue Dons made it all the way to the edge of the endzone, but quarterback Max Nogay fumbled the ball into the endzone and Man’s Jeremy Hatfield fell on it to save a touchdown late in the first quarter.

Man got the ball back at its own 20-yard line and and failed to convert the first down and was forced to punt back to Madonna. The punt was short and the Blue Dons took over possession at the Man 38.

From there, it took Madonna only seven plays to reach pay dirt again. On fourth and 14 from the Man 28-yard line, Max Nogay hit Deter with a 28-yard scoring pass. Deter then kicked the PAT to make it 14-0 near the start of the second period.

Madonna scored its final TD of the first half near the end of the second quarter when Nogay ran in an 11-yard TD to make it 20-0 with 21 seconds left before halftime.

The Blue Dons turned the ball over to Man three times in the first half, but the Hillbillies were not able to convert those into points.

Man went into halftime with only 78 yards on 29 plays. Quarterback Ryan Crum completed 4-of-11 passes in the first two quarters for 38 yards and the Hillbillies rushed 18 times for 40 yards.

Brandon Plymale led the Hillbillies in the first half with 24 yards on five carries. Cody Evans caught one pass from Crum for a 30-yard gain. Plymale rushed 13 yards for Man’s initial first down in the opening quarter.

Madonna amassed 202 yards on 25 plays in the first half, including 104 yards on 16 carries. Max Nogay completed 6-of-9 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown.

“They outplayed us in the first half,” Man Coach Harvey Arms said at halftime.

Madonna failed to score in the third period, but opened the fourth with a 30-yard touchdown strike from Nogay to Arlia at the 11:46 mark. Deter’s PAT kick gave Madonna a 27-0 cushion.

Madonna’s Louis Comis picked off a Man pass in the fourth quarter to end a Billies’ scoring threat and Nogay also intercepted a Man pass late in the game to prevent the Billies from scoring.

Madonna then ran the ball and chewed up the clock to seal the win.

On offense for Man, the Hillbillies rushed 29 times for just 65 yards. Plymale ran six times for 26 yards, Andrew Hale rushed nine times for 21 yards, Crum carried eight times for 12 yards, Owens rushed once for six yards and Michael Lomax ran the ball five times for a yard.

Crum completed 9-of-27 passes for 126 yards in the air. He connected with Riggins four times for 50 yards and the Billies’ lone touchdown. Crum completed two passes to Hatfield for 24 yards, one pass to Owens for 21 yards and one to Hale for two yards.

Man had a total of 313 yards for the game.

On defense, Man’s Zack Underwood got a quarterback sack for a 10-yard loss. Tyler Dunigon made a tackle for a four-yard loss. Jeremy Hatfield and Derrick Earnest each recovered a Madonna fumble. Blake Adkins broke up a Blue Don pass. Evan Riggins picked off one Blue Dons pass.

Man’s Blake Adkins, Ryan Crawford and Jimmy Duba suffered minor injuries early in the game.

Man finishes the season with a 12-2 record.

Madonna finished as the state champs with a 14-0 record.

Nogay was named the player of the game for his team-leading performance. He completed 9-of-13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

The difference in the game, though, was on the ground, as the Blue Dons rushed 39 times for 164 yards.

Madonna came into the game allowing only three points per game. The Blue Dons had only allowed 37 points all season long, en route to setting a school record for most wins in a season. The previous mark was set in 1987 when Madonna went 13-0 and beat Matewan 22-8 for its only other Class A state title.

“What a great feeling,” Madonna Coach Bob Kramer said following the win. “We beat a great team and Coach Arms does a great job with them.”