Cedar Park wins state championship

ARLINGTON (AP) - Mikal Olson ran 14 yards for the clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter and Cedar Park beat Lancaster 17-7 in a battle of first-time finalists in the Class 4A Division II championship game Friday night.

Olson's run completed a 14-play drive that took nearly 8 minutes after Zach Hancock put Cedar Park ahead on a 22-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Olson had 51 yards rushing while quarterback Nate Grimm and running back Nathan Harwell had 70 apiece. Cedar Park (14-2) had 253 rushing yards.

Demarcus Ayers ran 27 yards for a touchdown to cap a 60-yard drive by Lancaster (14-2) in the first quarter, but Lancaster had just 153 yards the rest of the game. Cedar Park held Lancaster to 37 yards after halftime.

With the game tied at 7 late in the third quarter, Lancaster botched a punt snap and gave Cedar Park the ball at the 6-yard line. Two holding penalties pushed Cedar Park back to the 26 before a 16-yard completion to Chad Whitehead helped set up Hancock's go-ahead kick. It was one of just two completions for Grimm.

Despite the 27-yard touchdown, Lancaster's Ayers finished with 25 yards rushing and was 12 of 23 passing for 126 yards.

Cedar Park pulled even at 7 with 15 seconds left in the first half on a 1-yard plunge by Ethan Fry on fourth down.