Wilson J.B. Hunt and Shelby Crest will battle for the Class 5A North Carolina High School Athletic Association title at 8 p.m. at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham. 

Both teams enter with 12-2 records in this contest. 

Crest has won 6 state titles, the most recent came in 2015 in Class 3AA. 

The Crest Chargers have won five in a row since a 21-14 loss to Ashbrook on Oct. 24. During the playoff run, the Chargers have knocked off Concord, 69-6; East Lincoln, 31-14; South Point, 28-14 and Hickory, 39-21.

East Lincoln and Hickory were both ranked ahead of the Chargers in the state.

The Hunt Warriors carry a 6-game winning streak into the finals. One of the two losses came against fellow finalist Tarboro, which is in the 2A finals. 

The postseason run has included a pair of close wins for the Warriors, 30-28 against Eastern Alamance in the first round and then 32-29 over Croatan in the quarterfinals. Last week, Hunt beat Northside-Jacksonville, 20-7, to punch the ticket to the finals.

According to MaxPreps, dating back to 2004, these teams have not played. 

Crest

QB Ely Hamrick, sr. — 2,686 yards passing and 29 TDs; 706 yards rushing and 17 TDs; signed with Virginia; once played at IMG Academy

RB Malachi Gamble, jr. — 501 yards rushing and 9 TDs

WR Michael Edwards, sr. — 48 catches for 801 yards and 8 TDs; 24 carries for 248 yards and 10 TDs 

WR Namjay Thompson, jr. — Has 47 catches for 804 yards and 13 TDs

LB Chris Gunter, sr. — Leads team with 81 tackles; has 10 TFL 

S D’Various Surratt, sr. — Team-high 4 interceptions; signed with North Carolina State 

S Lyrick Pettis, sr. — 3 interceptions; Duke signee 

Hunt

LB Judah Harris, jr. — 184 tackles, 49 TFL, 6 sacks, 56 QB hurries, 2 FF, 2 FR

DT CJ Dickerson, jr. — 174 tackles, 46 TFL, 15 sacks, 40 QB hurries

WR/CB Isaiah Chadwick, sr. — 6 interceptions; 23 catches, 361 yards, 2 TDs

WR/CB Jamauris Howard, sr. — 16 catches for 307 yards, 3 TDs; 8 interceptions 

LB Trevorous Cooper, fr. — 127 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 FR

QB Mez Harris, jr. — 1,435 yards passing and 8 TDs; 122 carries for 1,271 yards and 16 TDs rushing

RB Doryan Jones, so. — 243 carries for 1,754 yards and 21 TDS

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Hunt gets the all first

Nehemiah Rayquan Parker nearly gets a pick for Crest. Bobbled it twice but it fell to the ground

Crest gets the ball

Hamrick to Edwards for a first down and the ball is near midfield

Big play! Cooper with a blocked punt with 8:02 left. The Warriors will have good field position

Jones with a first-down run. Ball at the 30-yard line; Pettis is hurt on the play

Jones with another big run off tackle. This time, going to the right; Ball at the 5-yard line

Jones with another carry and taken down at the 2 The ball pops out but he is ruled down by contact

TOUCHDOWN! Harris with a 2-yard run at 5:42. PAT is good. Hunt 7, Crest 0

Crest has to punt again. Hunt ball with 4:46 left but ball at the Crest 43-yard line

TURNVOER! Hunt goes deep and Javion Hopper hauls it in. Ball at the 5-yard line. 4:32 left

Ball at the 1-yard line after a TFL

Hamrick to Thompson for a 49-yard completion 2:58 left

Big play! Jason Black runs down to the 3-yard line but a horse collar tackle will make it closer. Crest ball at the 2

Flags on the play

Offsides on Crest

1st and goal at the 7

TOUCHDOWN! Edwards with TD no. 11 on the season. Hamrick ran ahead of Edwards toward the goal line. 1:29 left. Crest 7, Hunt 7

4th and 1 at the 35 now for Crest; Hunt jumped off sides to make it a little bit shorter

TOUCHDOWN! Edwards with 35-yard run and Hamrick is one of the lead blockers. Crest 14, Hunt 7, 9:17 left in 2nd

Hunt punts; Crest taking over with 5:57 left

TV timeout

Black with a 9-yard run on the first play for the Chargers

Hamrick keeps it and runs for a first down. Ball into Hunt territory; 6-foot-5 TE Romeo Sanders with a big block for the Chargers

Hunt calls a timeout with 3:52 left. Chargers are driving

Edwards in a QB in a Wildcat formation and gets down to the 5 but flags on the play

Holding on Chargers will move the ball back

On a draw, Jason Black runs up the middle and the ball is at the 6.

TOUCHDOWN! Hamrick on a tush-push play. 2:06 left. Crest 20, Hunt 7

Offsides on Hunt; offense coming out for 2 points now

A lineman jumps offsides and Crest is sending kicking unit out for the second time

PAT is good. Crest 21, Hunt 7

Television replay just saw the flag thrown on Crest prior to the game; don’t see that often

TOUCHDOWN! Harris tries to pass; finds no one and goes through a entire Crest defense for an 80-yard score. 1:42 left. Crest 21, Hunt 14

Crest calls timeout with 18 seconds left

Hamrick to Surratt — usually a defensive player — for a big gain. Ball at 10

Another timeout with 8 seconds left

incomplete pass; 4 seconds left

FIELD GOAL Carson Grier with a 27-yard FG. 0:00; Crest 24, Hunt 14

Crest gets the ball first

Hamrick to Brock Melton for a first down. WR got an extra 7 yards after initial tackle

Unsporstmanlike call against Crest; guessing for Melton’s celebration after catch, but no mic on ref that time to know who call was against and I can’t read lips that well

TOUCHDOWN! Hamrick with another TD run from the 24. 9:56 left Crest 31, Hunt 14

Jones gets the ball near midfield with a long run. He’s up to nearly 100 yards on the night. Ball is at the 48

Harris drops back and finds nothing. He runs for a first down and the ball is at the 32

Bad snap — high — turns into a TFL for Christian Stowe. 4th down coming up for Hunt with 5:37 left and rolling

TURNOVER! 38-yard FG goes wide right; 5:10 left

Crest ball coming out of Media timeout

Hamrick and Black with back-to-back first down runs. Ball at a midfield for the Chargers

Cooper is hurt for Hunt with 2:03 left. He looks to be favoring a shoulder injury

TURNVOER! Harris with an interception with 7 seconds left in third quarter

Incomplete pass; Hunt still doesn’t have any passing yards; Incomplete pass celebration gets a flag on Crest. 1 second left in the 3rd

Hunt calls a timeout with 11:53 left

Hunt punts the ball again; Crest ball with 10:45 left

Big play from Hamrick to Edwards and the ball is at the 13-yard line now.

Crest facing a 4th and 31

TOUCHDOWN! Hamrick to Thompson for a TD at 4:16.

Thompson did a backflip after TD and a flag followed, so … connect the dot

Unsportsmanlike call on Crest; so touchdown is off the board

TURNOVER! Harris fumbles and Gunter recovers with 3:22