DILLON — It took 14 years for Whitefish to get back to the state championship game and 36 years for the Bulldogs to walk away from one with a win, so one can excuse head coach Chad Ross for feeling a little disoriented after the final whistle.

“It’s still disbelief,” Ross said a couple hours after the game ended. “It’s ‘oh my gosh, we just won.’ What do we do now?”

Whitefish (11-1) avenged their only loss of the season and dethroned two-time defending champion Dillon, 17-13 Saturday afternoon on a frozen Vigilante Field to win the Class A state championship.

The game wasn’t decided until the final play, when Derek Kastella knocked away a desperation pass in the end zone.

“Once it went incomplete we were all pretty psyched and jacked up a little bit,” Ross said. “Just the euphoria of finally having it happen and the kids being so excited. It’s more about them than me as a coach winning. They worked so hard and deserved it.”

The mood in the locker room after the game was predictably emotional.

“Just joy,” Ross said of the postgame celebration. “We did it — there were no I’s. it was just ‘we’ just won state.”

The Bulldogs led 14-13 entering the fourth quarter after Dillon missed a game-tying extra point, and the ’Dogs tacked on a 22-yard field goal from Haley Nicholson early in the fourth to extend the lead to four points. Both plays in the kicking game would prove crucial in a wild game-ending sequence.

The teams traded possessions in the fourth quarter — Dillon turning it over twice and Whitefish struggling to chew up clock without standout running back Chris Park, who suffered a serious knee injury in the first half — before Whitefish converted a gutsy fake punt with less than five minutes to go.

The Bulldogs immediately stalled out, however, forcing the defense to come up with a fourth down stop with just over 90 seconds to go to seemingly put the game on ice.

With Dillon out of timeouts, May was forced out of bounds on a second down run that stopped the clock, and after May was tackled short on third down the Bulldogs were forced to punt the ball back to the Beavers, who used a long punt return and penalty to get to the Whitefish 32 with only 24 seconds remaining.

But trailing by four points, the Beavers were forced to throw to the end zone and each of Troy Andersen’s last three passes all fell incomplete.

May had an enormous game on his final day in a Bulldog uniform, going 12 for 22 passing for 162 yards, rushing for another 94 yards, accounting for both Whitefish touchdowns and pulling down a pair of interceptions.

May’s favorite target throwing the ball was classmate Jed Nagler, who had seven catches for 132 yards in his final game before moving on to catch passes at the University of Montana next fall.

“(Nagler) was incredible,” Ross said. “It’s never been about the number of catches but (he and May) finally hooked up on a few deep balls, one that he really had to go up and get. He showed that athleticism and what he’s able to do on the football field.”

While May and Nagler did most of the damage offensively with Park sidelined, the Bulldogs defense was the difference in the game. Whitefish held Dillon under 100 yards rushing and had consistent pressure in the backfield.

“I think across the board our lines played great,” Ross said. “Chaffin (Ross) and Alex Curry had a couple big tackles at the end and did a great job.”

Chaffin, a senior, is Ross’ son, and winning a state title with family on the field only heightened the moment for father and son. The two found each other and embraced immediately after the final whistle.

“We’ve been talking about this forever,” Ross said. “I just said ‘I love you and I’m so proud of you.’ It turned out great, we couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

This year’s state champion team had 15 seniors, including Park, one of the team’s emotional leaders. His loss was clearly felt on the field, but as one of the team’s captains he remained a part of the game until the end.

“He came out on the bench and any time there was a big play guys would grab him and bring him over the field,” Ross said.

When the final pass fell to the turf, Park had one more run in him, hobbling to midfield to pick up Whitefish’s first championship trophy since 1979.

“There was no way we were going there without him,” Ross said. “We wouldn’t be in that position without him.”

Whitefish 7 7 0 3 — 17

Dillon 0 7 6 0 — 13

First quarter

WF — Chris Park 6 pass from Luke May (Haley Nicholson kick), 7:42

Second quarter

WF — May 2 run (Nicholson kick), 7:34

DIL — Nate Simkins 8 pass from Troy Andersen (Payton Lafrentz), 5:29

Third quarter

DIL — Lafrentz 44 pass from Andersen (kick failed), 5:49

Fourth quarter

WF — Nicholson 22 field goal, 11:54

Rushing — WF: Luke May 22-94, Chris Park 12-69; DIL: Troy Andersen 18-42, R.J. Fitzgerald 7-29.

Passing — Luke May 12-22-1-162; DIL: Troy Andersen 19-37-2-199.

Receiving — WF: Jed Nagler 7-132, Peter Mow 1-9, Dylan Cardon 1-9; DIL: Payton Lafrantz 8-116, Nate Simkins 8-48.