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WACO -- McCaleb Taylor kicked a 26-yard field goal with four seconds left to lift Fort Worth Nolan Catholic to its fourth TAPPS Division I state championship in five years with a wild 48-45 victory Saturday over Addison Trinity Christian Academy at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium.
Nolan (12-2) marched 53 yards after TCA's Nahshon Ellerbe scored the game-tying touchdown on a 13-yard run with 3:11 to play. Nolan's Ramon Romero III blocked Alexander Beiersdorf's extra-point kick to leave the game tied.
Nolan quarterback Joseph Prud'homme had key first-down gains, plus a 12-yard pass to Pierce Braden to get the Vikings in field-goal position. Taylor had hit from 25 yards earlier.
"Every day I kick 30 field goals. I do it all the time," Taylor said. "That was just another one, but it's starting to sink in."
"This is one of the most nerve-wracking games I've ever been through," Nolan coach Joe Prud'homme said. "Any time you play TCA you know it's going to go down to the wire. They were bound and determined to come back."
TCA (11-3) got off to a flying start with touchdowns on its first two possessions. Daniel Davidson, who threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns, connected on his first two to Brock Thomas and Tanner Snow, respectively.
The Vikings answered with three straight touchdowns -- a 4-yard run by David Authier, a 46-yard strike from Prud'homme to Braden and a 13-yard run by Cameron Elias -- to go up 21-14 early in the second quarter.
The teams then traded touchdowns with Joe Montez rumbling in from the 34 for the Vikings with 2:26 to go in the half. TCA fought back to within one, 28-27, with a missed PAT.
Nolan went up 35-27 on a bizarre final play of the first half. Taylor had his 43-yard field-goal attempt blocked. The ball rolled to the 3, where a TCA player mistakenly tried to fall on it, but Nolan's Johnathan Muraski pounced on it in the end zone for a touchdown.
Nolan led 45-33 with 8:30 to play on Montez's 1-yard run, but TCA began its comeback on its second long TD pass of the half.
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