Newton HS Coach W.T. Johnston Delivers Emotional Speech After Texas State Title

Newton High School defeated Canadian High School to win the Class 3A Division II Texas state title Thursday, a result that was particularly powerful for head coach W.T. Johnston.

Johnston was diagnosed with graft-versus-host disease in April 2015 after he underwent a double-lung transplant. He told Fox Sports Southwest after Thursday's game doctors had told him in August he'd have eight months to live and that he was unsure whether he could coach through the season.

According to the Star-Telegram's Darren Lauber, Newton secured the win when Dominique Seastrunk intercepted a pass from Canadian quarterback Casen Cavalier at the goal line with 41 seconds remaining.

"That was the game... that was who blinked first and they blinked," Johnston said of the play. "I can't say enough good things about their team though. They're very well-coached, their kids play extremely hard, but they just came out on the short end today and it's because of turnovers."

Newton defensive back Kevin Watson received the game's Most Valuable Player award after getting a pick-six in the second quarter to give Newton a 14-0 lead.