Gorham’s football Rams, who will invade Westbrook this week, have yet to shy away from any of Class A’s big boys.

The new kids on the block not only piled up 137 combined points in wins over Scarborough, Cheverus and Windham, they darn near knocked off Portland’s elite: Portland High on Sept. 9 (26-22), and Deering Friday.

The purple Rams emerged the winners, 28-20, but not before Gorham dished out a healthy dose of double wing. Gorham was in this one until the final seconds of the game, and that’s this team’s trademark, according to their coach, Dave Kilborn.

“These kids don’t die,” said Kilborn, and that’s what he likes most about them.

“We’ve been down three times this year and we keep fighting back,” he said. “Tonight the onside kick didn’t go in our favor. But we get that, throw a bomb and you never know what might happen.”

The coach was referring to Gorham’s last chance to pull out its fourth win of the year.

Gorham had already kept the large crowd from escaping early when, with 40 seconds left, Andy Oldenburg scored on a 3-yard run, pulling the visitors within a touchdown and two-point conversion.

The final drama played harmoniously with the first three and a half quarters of the game, with momentum changing sides like a tennis volley.

Brian Sandora drew first blood for Deering when he broke free on a 70-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. Willie Joy’s first of four kicks made it 7-0. Later in the quarter Nick Dunn cushioned the lead with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Devin Ly and Gorham was in a 14-0 hole, very early.

But on Gorham’s next play from scrimmage, fullback Colin Hurd busted up the middle and raced 74 yards for a touchdown. And after Jordan Rowles (who also intercepted a pass in the first half) recovered a fumble near his own goal line, sophomore halfback Justin Villacci tore through and beyond the Deering secondary on a 90-yard TD run.

Deering counterpunched in a big way, setting up Sandora’s second touchdown (a 4-yard rush) with Dunn’s 62-yard pass to Ly.

Gorham gave itself one more chance to get even by halftime. Junior quarterback Mark Clements appeared to have salvaged a stalled drive with a fourth-and-seven pass to Matt Trask, who made the diving catch at the 1-yard-line. But a blocking penalty pushed the visitors back the other way.

At halftime Gorham’s coaches, “made some adjustments defensively to contain Sandora,” Kilborn said, “because he’s a heck of a back.”

But Sandora scored again in the fourth quarter for Deering, on a 2-yard run, and amassed 247 yards on the night.

“Next time we play them, we’ll have first-hand knowledge of him and we’ll be able to play him a little differently,” Kilborn said.

So confident are these Rams that they will see him again. And as good as Sandora was, Gorham’s offense was equally as menacing. With Villacci (172 yards), Oldenburg (121) and Hurd each posing a big play threat, Deering had incentive to control the clock.

And, like the coach says, these kids don’t die.

“One thing I’ve learned from this game,” said Hurd, “is that we do have a lot of heart. Even at the end there, we were pushing it and giving it our all. But I also learned we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to reach our goals.”

Hurd, a linebacker on defense, said there is no denying the difference between last year’s Class B schedule and this year’s against Class A.

“You wouldn’t see a game like this in Class B,” Hurd said. “This is just another level. The hitting is much harder and the game is much more intense. Every second matters.”

But the Rams wouldn’t want it any other way.

“This is what we were looking for,” said Clements. “This is a great Class A team. We were expecting a great game and that’s what we got.”