Down two touchdowns early in the third quarter, the Bulldogs received a burst of energy from the backfired gamble and rallied to tie the game. But what the Golden Trojans giveth, McCrum taketh away.

The senior quarterback’s 28-yard strike to Ben Lambert on the opening play of the fourth quarter set up a go-ahead field goal by Cam Cadorette, and a 15-yard touchdown run by McCrum capped a 24-14 victory at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“We just preach composure. We’ve been here before,” McCrum said. “We just had to stay calm. We expect adversity. We didn’t know exactly when. It came in the second half. That’s just how it ended up. I thought we pulled through it nicely.”

Thornton (10-1) successfully defended its state title and went home with the Gold Ball for the third time in four years.

McCrum completed 12 of 21 passes for 142 yards and rushed 15 times for 72 yards.

“We got off to a good start and kind of sputtered there,” Thornton coach Kevin Kezal said. “They made a great comeback, and our kids answered the call.”

A turnover and a special teams lapse put Portland (10-1) in the early hole, and a key penalty for an apparent late hit short-circuited the Bulldogs’ comeback hopes after Cadorette put the Trojans back in command.

Evan Russell recovered Portland’s fumble on a punt return after the Bulldogs held the Trojans to three-and-out on their initial possession. McCrum guided the Trojans 32 yards in seven plays, most notably completions of 16 and 6 yards to Lambert and 7 to Corey Hart.

“The last couple weeks we haven’t been able to pass the ball,” Lambert said. “That opened it up a lot. The wind was always blowing the last two weeks, so we finally got to air it up.”

Greg Ruff rushed up the middle for a 6-yard score with 5:58 remaining in the quarter.

Led by Rome Pura and Isaac Patry, Thornton’s defense earned a quick stop. Lambert fielded Nick Archambault’s punt, raced left to right and followed a wall of blockers down his own sideline for a 71-yard score.

“You’ve got to learn how to play in these games,” Portland coach Jim Hartman said. “They know how to play here, and it really helps. They’re born and bred for this. I think we gave them a pretty good battle.”

Thornton held Portland to 59 yards in the first half before the Bulldogs stymied McCrum to resurrect their flickering title hopes.

“We’ve been hearing that we shouldn’t even show up all week, that they had the best defense in the state,” Pura said. “We just came out and proved who the best was.”

Not without a rally from Portland, which sought its first state title since a 2002 rout of Edward Little on the initial “Super Saturday” in Maine gridiron history.

Thornton yielded yards grudgingly on six consecutive runs, but it set up play action and a 15-yard TD strike from Issiah Bachelder tor Jake Knop. John Williams kicked the extra point after Bachelder’s first completion of the game.

Bachelder threw two more dimes, 34 yards to Knop and 14 to Dylan Bolduc, to ignite the tying march. Joe Esposito scored from 5 yards out with 1:08 to go in the third.

The Trojans, who came from behind against Windham in last year’s final, took the hiccup as a sign that they were due for the last laugh.

“Answering the bell, to be able to respond, that’s how these kids have always done it,” Kezal said.

McCrum’s connection with Lambert (five catches, 83 yards) led to Cadorette’s 32-yard kick for the lead.

Portland pushed to midfield before a tackle for loss by Russell and Owen Elliott forced third-and-long. Bachelder threw a late floater into the hands of Thornton’s Michael Laverriere.

The Bulldogs had McCrum wrapped up shy of the stick to force fourth down when a flag flew in at the last second. It gave Thornton a fresh set of downs near midfield, and McCrum’s 37-yard scamper out of the read option set up an identical play for the clinching touchdown.

“I don’t even know what the penalty was. We never got a straight answer,” Hartman said. “But it didn’t have anything to do with this. They (the referees) aren’t the ones who fumbled really early and let that kid run down the sideline.”

Elijiah Ayotte and Pura sacked Bachelder late in the game to close the deal.

Thornton beat Lawrence in 2012 to win its first state title in 24 years.

“It never grows old. It’s a tough league, and there are a lot of good football teams,” Kezal, a graduate of the old Livermore Falls High School, said. “We’re so happy. Our kids worked their tails off. We knew we would have a bull’s-eye from the start of the year, and these seniors have just been great leaders and done a great job for us.”

koakes@sunjournal.com