Tuscaloosa Academy lost their first ever 2A AHSAA State Championship game against the Reeltown Rebels at UAB's Protective Stadium, where the Rebels defeated the Knights by 36 points to establish themselves as 2A State Champions with a final score of 49-13.

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First Quarter

Reeltown struck first in this matchup after TA's unsuccessful first drive, which forced the Knights to punt the ball away, and Reeltown struck on their first play of the game, with Rebels' Sophmore quarterback JaMarkius Smith connecting on an 83-yard touchdown reception to Senior Wide receiver Finley Henderson to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter after the successful PAT.

Tuscaloosa Academy struggled to find offensive success, with Preston Lancaster and the Knights punting the ball away to the Rebels on their first two possessions of the game.

Reeltown answered after a muffed punt return by the Knights which resulted in the very next play being a  Rebels' touchdown by sophomore running back Alijah Woods carrying it 43 yards for a Reeltown touchdown, extending the Rebels' lead to 14 points with 5:21 remained in the first quarter following the successful PAT.

Tuscaloosa Academy continued this pattern on their third possession, with the Knights finishing the first quarter with 7 yards to the Rebels' 155 total yards. Reeltown capitalized as Junior Runningback Zarrell Lockhart ran it around the edge, putting the Rebels up 21-0 at the end of the first quarter following a successful PAT.

Second Quarter

TA answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive capped by Knights' Senior quarterback Preston Lancaster, who after a quiet first quarter showed some life by connecting on a 45-yard connection to Knights' Senior wide receiver to bring the Knights within the Rebels' 30-yard line. Following a crucial 3rd and 10 snag by Senior DB and Wide Receiver Millis Turnipseed for 25 yards, the Knights were set up with a first and goal inside the Rebels' 5-yard line, which resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lancaster to senior running back Eddie Thompson, putting the Knights on the board at 7-21 after a successful PAT with 9:18 in the second quarter.

Both offenses failed to score any more points for the remainder of the half, despite TA's last-minute effort, which saw Lancaster complete a 25-yard pass to Hamiter to get the Knights inside Rebels territory, but nothing came of it, with Lancaster throwing his second interception of the game to end the first half, with the Reeltown Rebels leading 21-7 at the break.

Third Quarter

Reeltown began the second half identical to the first, with the Rebels scoring on a 45-yard touchdown reception from Smith to Junior running back Trey Brown, extending the Rebels' lead to 21 points after the successful PAT, making the score 28-7 with 9:25 remaining in the second half.

The Knights' next play resulted in a fumble when Ellis Hamiter fumbled on a wide receiver screen, which the Rebels capitalized on the following play, with Smith finding his older brother and University of North Alabama commit Tae Martin, who took the reception for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Rebels a commanding 35-7 lead with 9:06 left in the third quarter.

Lancaster threw his third interception of the game on the next possession, and Alijah Woods returned the interception to the endzone, giving Reeltown a 35-point lead with only 4 minutes being played in the third quarter.

Lancaster and the Knights finally found success through the air in the second half, when the Senior quarterback connected with Kena Rego, who went 89 yards for a touchdown, giving TA their first score of the second half, making the score 42-13 and cementing Lancaster's name in the Alabama High School Football record books, with Lancaster becoming the new AHSAA all-time pass leader with 11,357 career passing yards.

Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter produced few scores, with Reeltown's Tae Martin scoring his second touchdown of the game, this time on the ground, to increase the Rebels' lead to 36 points in the final quarter of regulation.

2A AHSAA State Championship Game MVP

JaMarkius Smith- over 160 passing yards, and 3 passing touchdowns with all three touchdowns going to three separate receivers.

What Now?

Retaliating for their State Championship loss from the previous season, the Rebels defeated the Tuscaloosa Academy Knights 49–13 to earn their first 2A AHSAA State Championship since 2009. The Rebels finished the season with a 14-1 record.

Following this bitter defeat in the program's first-ever 2A AHSAA State championship game, Tuscaloosa Academy will end the season as the 2A AHSAA State runners-up with a record of 12-3.

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