AUBURN – In real time, the changing of the tides takes hours. In football time, it can happen far, far quicker.

Try 15 seconds. That’s how long it took Winslow’s Chris McInnis to gather in a fourth-quarter kickoff and sprint down the right sideline during Saturday’s Class B state championship game at Walton Field.

Fifteen seconds. That’s how long it took McInnis to cut back at midfield and loop his way all the way over to the left sideline.

Fifteen seconds. That’s how long it took for McInnis to coast into the end zone … take a bite out of what had been an 11-point York lead … and pave the way to a 24-17 win over the Wildcats.

Winslow’s victory gave the Black Raiders their second straight state title and their 23rd straight win. The Raiders finish up 12-0, while York is 10-2.

McInnis credited the blocking in front of him.

“They sprung me a hole, I found the crease, and I just hit it and went as fast as I can,” the senior wideout said.

His score, with 11:09 to play in the game, cut the deficit to 17-12.

Junior tailback Ricky Vigue said McInnis’ TD was important for a number of reasons: First, it cut into the deficit. Second, it changed the momentum. And third, it happened so quickly.

“It didn’t take that much time off the clock, and it gave us more time so we could drive again later,” Vigue said.

Senior linebacker James Bridges credited some divine intervention. “That was sent from God, right there. Without that, I don’t think we could have come back. … It just lifted everyone’s sprits back up and helped us win this game.”

And so did Bridges, who was inserted into the Winslow backfield in the fourth quarter as the wingback and capped a 78-yard scoring drive with an 8-yard TD plunge with 3:08 to play.

The drive lasted nearly seven minutes. Bridges touchdown made it 18-17, and gave the Black Raiders the lead for good.

Vigue led the Black Raiders with 123 rushing yards on 20 carries, while quarterback Chris Langlais completed seven of 15 passes for 108 yards.

Vigue got tougher as the game progressed, racking up 81 yards on nine carries in the fourth quarter.

Nathan Schoff paced the Wildcats with 74 yards on 15 carries.

One reason the Raiders’ spirits had been flagging before McInnis’ 15-second jaunt: York had seemingly blown open a 7-6 game by scoring twice in a four-play span in the third and fourth quarters.

First, Nolan Patten (who also scored the first York TD on a 79-yard pass from quarterback Chris Kiernan), nailed a 27-yard field goal to make it 10-6 with four seconds to go in the third.

Then, after Daniel Sabeastyanski intercepted a Winslow second-down pass and returned it to the W-8, Schoff galloped 5 yards to make it 17-6 with 11:24 to go. That set the stage for McInnis’ return.

Another key for Winslow: the defense, which held York to just 14 rushing yards in the second half, intercepted three passes and sacked Kiernan twice on the final possession of the game. Jeremy Labonte had both of those sacks, and Vigue ended the suspense by picking off a pass with five seconds to go.

The Black Raiders left the door open for York when Langlais dove into the end zone from the 1-yard line with just 1:23 to go, capping a five-play, 41-yard drive.

McInnis helped set up that score when he tipped a Kiernan pass that teammate Andy Mette intercepted.

Langlais’ score came on first-and-goal, and the Wildcats were out of timeouts and couldn’t have stopped the clock.

Winslow coach Mike Siviski said he and his staff tried to change the play and not score, but couldn’t be heard over the noise of the crowd.

Defensive end Labonte helped make the decision to score moot, as he sacked Kiernan twice on the final possession after York had started with a 23-yard completion that put the ball on the W-21.

“I just came around the end and nobody blocked me, and I just killed the quarterback,” Labonte said.

BLACK RAIDERS 24, WILDCATS 17

York (10-2) 7 0 3 0?17

Winslow (12-0) 0 6 0 18?24

Y ? Patten 79 pass from Kiernan (Patten kick)

W ? Runnells 17 pass from Langlais (rush failed)

Y ? Patten 27 field goal

Y ? Schoff 5 run (Patten kick)

W ? McInnnis 93 kickoff return (pass failed)

W ? Bridges 8 run (rush failed)

W ? Langlais 1 run (rush failed)

York Winslow

First downs 9 12

Rushing att.-yards 35-87 38-175

Passing comp.-att. 7-19 7-15

Passing yards 147 108

Total yards 234 283

Punts-avg. 4-30.5 5-38.2

Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0

Intercepted by 1 3

Penalties-yards 2-10 7-40

Rushing

York: Schoff 15-74, Se. Bradburn 9-24, Sanborn 4-13, Kiernan 7-(-24); Winslow: Vigue 20-123, Langlais 7-38, Runnells 9-11, McInnis 1-(-5), Bridges 1-8

Passing

York: Kiernan 7-18-3-147, Patten 0-1-0-0; Winslow: Langlais 7-15-0-108

Receiving

York: Schoff 3-23, Patten 3-101, Se. Bradburn 1-23; Winslow: Hapworth 2-31, McInnis 2-31, Runnells 1-17, Vigue 2-39

A?2,000 (est.)