The emotion of an unbeaten season, a surprising win over perennial power Hoover and a Class 6A state championship all reached a peak for the Prattville Lions on Saturday night.

Junior tailback Justin Albert scored three touchdowns, and the Prattville defense recorded six sacks in a 35-21 victory over No. 1 Hoover.

The win capped a 15-0 season for the Lions, gave the school its first state title since 1984 and ended a run of four straight 6A titles for the Bucs (13-2). It also started a wild celebration among Prattville's fans and players.

Prattville has endured a rocky and emotional season off the field.

Assistant coach Lorenzo "Lo" Pickett died just before a Thanksgiving Day practice. The Lions had two former players die while serving in Iraq. Earlier this month, a teacher at the school died of cancer.

"Our faith has been really strong this year," Prattville coach Bill Clark said. "We've had some bad things happen."

The Lions had plenty of friends with them to savor the championship.

"I had to be here to watch my boys. I had to cheer them on," said Prattville graduate Roman Harper, a former University of Alabama star who is with the New Orleans Saints.

With Harper out with a season-ending injury, he chose to watch his Lions on Saturday.

"This is great," Harper said. "This is what they've been waiting for, and for it to happen against Hoover makes it even sweeter."

Of the estimated attendance of more than 25,000 at Legion Field, a majority supported Prattville. The team returned home Saturday night and went straight to City Hall to share their new trophy with about 3,000 fans.

The team's four chartered buses arrived about 8:55 p.m. Soon after, every tree along two blocks of Main Street was covered with toilet paper.

Cindi Harper, a 1989 graduate of Prattville High School, was at the party.

"After everything that's happened this year, all the emotions, I'm glad to see us bring the championship home," she said. "Beating Hoover is just icing on the cake."