RALEIGH — St. David's School (10-1) will play for the NCISAA 8-man football championship after defeating Cary Christian (8-3) 48-21 on Friday.

This was the first ever appearance in the semi-finals for Cary Christian.

“We can not afford to play like we're just happy to be here,” Cary Christian coach Dell Cook said. “We have to play aggressive and leave it all out on the field, and they did.”

The Warriors took the lead on their opening offensive drive and never looked back. Raine McMillan ran the ball 10 yards with 6:34 left in the first to give St. David's a 6-0 lead.

In the second quarter, with Cary Christian threatening, Matthew Comer picked up a Knights fumble and returned it 64 yards for another Warrior touchdown.

The great defense continued when Anthony Thomas intercepted a Cary Christian pass on their next possession. “These kids are athletic and they're smart,” said St. David's coach Wes Wilder, “You go to the state championship game and you'll see some defense.”

St. David's led the Knights 27-0 at the end of the first half. On the first drive of the second half, the Warriors picked up right where they left off with a 16 yard touchdown run by the quarterback Forest Brandt.

Cary Christian was finally able to get on the board with 8:56 left in the game on a 12 yard touchdown pass from James Montgomery to Jason Williams.

Montgomery added another touchdown pass 6 minutes later but Cary Christian just had too few points too late. St. David's will play at Fayetteville's Trinity Christian School for the state championship.