TUSCALOOSA – Elba’s Tigers (14-1) posted 28 second-half points Friday afternoon to beat Fyffe 36-22 in the Super 7 Class 2A state football championship game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
    It was the second straight year at Elba and Fyffe have met in the finals. The Red Devils won in 2014 at Auburn 28-17.
    Senior quarterback Ramsey Rigby directed an offense Friday that amassed 371 yards. The son of head coach Ed Rigby earned game MVP honors rushing for 72 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries and completing 3-of-5 passes for 49 yards.
   Coach Paul Benefield’s Red Devils (13-2) struck first with an 11-play, 53-yard drive that took the first 5:19 off the clock in the opening period. Junior running back Dilan Kilpatrick, who rushed for a game-high 117 yards on 31 carries, scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 1-yard run to give Fyffe its only lead of the night 7-0.  Kilpatrick also scored on runs of 8 and 3 yards in the second half.
    Elba struck late in the second quarter when Rigby completed a 54-yard pass to Cavoseaa Stinson to the Fyffe 17-yard line to set up Rigby’s 5-yard scoring run with 2:31 left on in the half. On the point after try, Rigby’s pass was deflected into the arms of the Tigers’ 6-foot-5, 305-pound offensive tackle Blaine Hudson. The senior twisted around one defender into the end zone for the 2-point play and Elba went into intermission leading 8-7.
    Rigby added a 20-yard TD run in the third period up the lead to 16-7, but Kilpatrick’s second TD brought Fyffe to within two 16-14 with 2:42 to play in the third period. Elba running back Stefan Caldwell scored on runs of 15 and 3 yards, and Blake Edwards wrapped up the scoring for the Tigers with a 36-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
    Edwards finished with 114 yards on 13 carries and Caldwell had 88 on 12 attempts. Seth Benefield added 53 yards on 12 carries for Fyffe, which totaled 236 rushing yards and 260 overall while controlling the ball for 30:57 of the 48 minutes.
    Elba linebacker Blake Johnson recorded 15 tackles to lead Rigby’s defense. Antonio Hill and Tanner Hudson added 11 stops each, and Dontavious Williams had 10. Ryan Martin’s seven tackles led Fyffe’s defense.
   Neither team had a turnover.
    The championship was the fourth in school history for the Tigers. Other titles came in 1989, 1992 and 2011.