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For the first time in school history the Chambers Academy football team are back-to-back state champions. The Rebels ran away from Bessemer at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery on Thursday night, cruising to a 45-12 win and a second consecutive state title.

“This team has gotten better and better all year long, and tonight was a culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of determination. And I’m just really proud of these guys. They’ve been a joy to coach all year, and I thought we played really well tonight, and showed that we were a dominant program,” Chambers coach Jason Allen said. “The senior class has really led our team and just done a phenomenal job. We set a goal at the start of the year, we want to be the first team in school history to be back-to-back state champs.”

The Rebels were rarely tested on the night and that is true for their entire season. After losing their season opener 35-31, Chambers Academy won 12 straight games all by at least 29 points to leave little doubt who the top team in AISA Division AAA was in 2024.

It was Luke Tarver that opened the scoring for Chambers Academy with a physical touchdown run early in the first quarter after a long run from quarterback Landon Hand set it up with a long run down the sidelines.

Bessemer would respond with a long touchdown drive, tying the game up with three minutes to go in the first quarter, but squandered a chance to take the lead with a missed extra point. Chambers did not meet Bessemer’s star quarterback, Jacob Rowell, in the win during the regular season. Rowell’s impact was limited in the rematch as the Chambers Academy defense kept him in check outside of a long touchdown pass in the second half.

“We wanted to contain him. He’s really good with his legs, but he’s very accurate throwing the football,” Allen said. “We wanted to make him be a quarterback and not let him run down the field.

The Rebels would get two key plays from TJ Daniel in the first quarter when he gave the Rebels the lead back with a touchdown run (14-6) and then came through with an interception on defense later in the second quarter. 

The defense would come through again in the second quarter with an Aiden Anglin interception. That would set up a touchdown run by Jacob Norgard as he gave Chambers Academy a 22-6 lead with under two minutes to go in the first half.

“I thought that was huge going into the half. You know, we had a turnover in the first half, and we had some holding penalties, but to get the two-score lead, I think it really put some distance between us and them and we felt like that once we got ahead like that  then we would put them in chase mode,” Allen said. 

The Rebels doubled up out of the halftime break. Chambers Academy received the second half kickoff, drove down the field and scored a touchdown on a 30-yard rush from Hand. The successful two-point conversion gave the Rebels a commanding 30-6 lead less than 90 seconds in the second half.

Bessemer struck back quickly with a long touchdown pass, but a strong tackle from Gabe Bridges on the two-point attempt kept the Rebel lead at three scores with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Chambers Academy was unfazed and the offense continued to pour it on. After a Norgard touchdown was called back late in the third quarter, Tarver got it done with his second of the night to put the Rebels up 38-12.

The Rebels would tack on one last touchdown when Hand flipped the ball forward to Daniel for a 33-yard touchdown with just over six minutes left in the game.

The defense would get its third interception of the night to ice the game with under two minutes left in the contest as Cobie Whatley came down with the football and the Chambers Academy sideline exploded with joy.

Chambers Academy finishes the season with a 12-1 record. The Rebels have now won four state championships in the past seven years and are 24-1 in their last 25 games.

During the post-game press conference, an emotional Tarver reflected on his final game as a Rebel.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams at Chambers, and this is my favorite,” said the senior. “We have a bond like no other on this team. We always worked together through our first loss to this championship, everybody stuck together.”

“Twelve  years ago, we just rolled our sleeves up, and we didn’t have enough coaches, we didn’t have many players, and we decided we’re going to build this thing and build it the right way with our own two hands and I’m just really proud as an alumni of Chambers Academy and a native of LaFayette, that’s my home,” Allen said. “It just means so much to me that we’ve been able to do that. I’ve coached these guys in peewee football all the way up, and it’s just been one of the pleasures of my life.”