Just moments after receiving the celebratory Gatorade dousing, Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper’s jacket had frozen over. The liquid poured on him from the big, orange jug had turned to ice.

Cooper, bundled and layered for Saturday’s evening Class A title showdown with Skowhegan, didn’t seem to mind that several of his players had ambushed him with the frigid shower on a bitter cold night. Maybe that’s because the scoreboard read 26-6 in favor of the Scots when that final gun sounded at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland

“If this is the way the season is going to end every year, I’ll take a Gatorade bath every late November,” said Cooper, celebrating his fourth state title in the past five seasons.

From just outside the stadium following the game, the lighted sign atop the Time and Temperature Building on Congress Street read 21 degrees. Thanks to a stiff wind, the temperature on the field felt even colder.

“We’re you’re standing on the sideline, it’s freezing,” said Bonny Eagle senior captain and running back Josh Ruby, who carried for the Scots’ first two touchdowns. “It feels like it’s below 15 degrees right now.”

Fans came prepared with parkas and blankets. The hot chocolate flowed at the concession stands. No one displayed a bare painted chest, at least not for long.

The players, too, tried to stay warm. Some donned long-sleeved Under Armour beneath their pads and hoods under their helmets. Ruby was one of those players. After a first-half fumble, though, he decided to roll the sleeves up.

“The cold and the sleeves together is a deadly combination to hold the ball,” he said. “That’s why I had to roll the sleeves up. I had trouble holding onto the ball in the first half. Once I rolled the sleeves up, I held onto the ball. No one was taking the ball out once I did that.”

Cooper said the cold didn’t really bother the Scots. “It’s more how you have to deal with it,” he said. “(Ruby) had long sleeves on. That’s not something he’d usually wear.”

The Bonny Eagle passing game wasn’t too affected by the temperature, as quarterback Nate Doehler threw for over 100 yards and a touchdown. The strong wind gusts made it tricky at times for the receivers, though.

“It was the wind mostly, blowing the ball around,” said wide receiver Ryan Nason, who caught an 18-yard scoring pass at the start of the fourth quarter. “But Nate did a great job throwing the ball to the receivers and the line did a great job blocking.”

“Passing the ball in the cold, that’s no problem for Nate,” said Bonny Eagle senior captain Dayton McPherson. “He’s a great quarterback. He can do that kind of stuff.”

McPherson, a linebacker and vocal leader of the defense, helped spearhead an impressive effort that shutdown Skowhegan’s vaunted double-wing rushing attack. And he did so in short sleeves. He was one of a handful of players that eschewed a long-sleeved layer. He started the game with tape on his elbows to protect against turf burn, but even that was shed by the second half.

“It wasn’t bad when you were running around,” he said. “I feel bad for my teammates standing on the sidelines, but hats off to the boys who stuck with us all year long.”

Much like his coach who remained on the field in his ice-covered coat for as long as it took to answer reporters’ questions, Ruby shrugged off the cold. It was just one more obstacle for the Scots to surmount.

“Whatever,” Ruby said. “Cold is cold. We won the state championship and that’s all that matters.”