HERSHEY — For a year that lacked adversity, the Selinsgrove High football team decided to pack whole season’s worth into the final week.

It started with quarterback Cory Briggs coming down with walking pneumonia earlier in the week, followed by the Seals trailing for most of the Friday’s PIAA Class AAA championship game with Manheim Central.

But for all those doubters who thought the Seals schedule would come back to haunt them, Briggs and the Seals offensive line put together the biggest drive of their lives late in the fourth quarter to come away with the school’s first football state title.

Seth Lauver scored with 1:47 left in the game and the hard-hitting Seals’ defense did not allow the Barons a first down on the ensuing drive as Selinsgrove ended its dream season with a 10-7 victory at HersheyPark Stadium, the only scholastic team in Pennsylvania to finish the year unbeaten.

“We knew we could do it. We were driving the ball all game on them, but we couldn’t finish it,” Selinsgrove center Jon Trego said. “I knew we had it in us.”

The Seals finished the season at 16-0, just the eighth in state history to reach the mark.

The Barons finished at 15-1.

The final quarter was a testament to Selinsgrove football as the defensive hitting and offensive line wore down the Barons.

“We are very fast and very physical when we get to the football. Those hits start accumulating on team and we take control. You could see that happen as the game went on,” Selinsgrove coach Dave Hess said. “Truly, we felt down the stretch that we could take over.

Our offensive linemen were coming off the field and saying ‘Hey coaches, run behind us. We’re getting control.’” The Seals took over late, despite trailing by four points with 6:19 left in the game after Ryan Keiser picked off a pass at Selinsgrove’s own 28.

“That last drive, coach (Mike) Gurski said to us we have one drive, we’re going to win this football game, 10-7,” Selinsgrove guard Logan Hetherington said. “This was a dream for us since we were wee-little ones running around. I don’t know what to say, I’m so happy we won the state title.”

Selinsgrove marched 72 yards in 12 plays on the game-winning drive. The Seals converted on two third downs on the drive, one on an eight-yard pass from Briggs to Keiser and the other on pass interference call when Jarryd Heisey ran through Matt Ruby trying to make play that put the ball on Manheim Central 26. Lauver had three carries on the next four plays, the last one from six yards out for the touchdown with less than two minutes to play.

“It just goes on our entire offensive line. We’ve had great conditioning all year, we just showed it in the fourth quarter of the state championship game,” Lauver said. “The credit goes to the line, they made a big hole and I punched it right in. We just dominated the defensive line.

“It was surreal to score the gamewinning touchdown. I didn’t want to get up. I want to stay there and soak it all in.”

The start of the state championship battle was a defensive struggle. The two teams combined for five punts and a turnover before the Barons took the lead on their first drive of the second quarter.

Justin Gorman completed three passes on the scoring drive, the last one from 36 yards out to Derek Hart for a 7-0 lead with 9:53 left in the first half.

The first half was a struggle for the Selinsgrove offense as Briggs suffered through a 4-of-13 for 31 yards half, while Keiser was held to just one catch.

Things improved in the second half, but the Seals couldn’t get on the board.

They had a drive stopped on downs at the Manheim 22, another one stopped on the Manheim 24 after an interception.

“We kept getting big plays and moving the ball well, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot, a missed throw or penalty,” Briggs said. “We kept saying on the sideline that if we kept it up, we were going to score.”

The Seals finally got on the board thanks to junior kicker Spencer Hotaling.

He capped a six-play, 56-yard drive with a 21-yard field goal with 52 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the Barons lead to 7-3. Selinsgrove was facing a fourth-and three from the Manheim 4 at the time, but after a timeout, elected to kick the field goal.

The defense forced Manheim Central to punt on the next drive, but the offense was again stymied when a fakepunt run by Keiser was stopped by the Barons short of the first down.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we knew we couldn’t give up. From past experience in wrestling, being down 5-2 in the state semifinals, I came back and won,” Spencer Myers said.

“It was the same thing here. We’re band of brothers who meshed together.

We’re a family.”

The Barons converted their only first down of the second half on the next drive, but Keiser picked off the big pass two plays later.