PORTLAND — There’s a pretty good chance that every football coach in America has talked about dominating all three phases of the game.

In Saturday’s Class A state championship game, Portland and Thornton Academy played an evenly matched game when it came to offense and defense, which meant the game would come down to the third phase – special teams.

The Golden Trojans were able to celebrate their second straight state championship on Saturday afternoon because they dominated the third phase of the game.

It also helped that Portland struggled all day long in the special teams department.

The Trojans were able to jump out to a 7-0 lead after the Bulldogs muffed a punt off the leg of TA punter Rome Pura. Evan Russell recovered the fumble at the Portland 31.

Thornton took advantage of the short field and senior standout Greg Ruff finished off the drive with a touchdown run.

The TA lead quickly went to 14-0 when the Trojans’ punt return unit put on a show.

Senior Ben Lambert hauled in a punt at the TA 21-yard line and would use some good blocking from his teammates to race down the sidelines for a 79-yard score.

“We worked that all year, we got the wall set up and Ben was able to get to it and Greg Ruff had a key block down the sideline. There was one guy who kind of leaked through and Greg picked him off and Benny did his thing,” said TA coach Kevin Kezal.

The Trojans’ special teams domination continued in the fourth quarter when junior kicker Cam Cadorette was called on to kick a 32-yard field goal with the game tied at 14.

Cadorette, who kicked the go-ahead field goal in last week’s regional final, would calmly trot onto the field and nail the kick to put TA up 17-14 early in the fourth.

“Cam has had a phenomenal career for us. He’s big time. He doesn’t feel the pressure, he just relaxes and he’s been big for us in the playoffs certainly,” said Kezal.

The TA kicker said he tries to stay out of his head when he goes out for a kick.

“I don’t really think much, my adrenaline just keeps me going and I was excited to do it,” said Cadorette.

One thing that helped Cadorette this week was the fact that there was no wind at Fitzpatrick Stadium on Saturday – unlike last week when the wind was swirling.

“Much better … it wasn’t so stressful (this week). Aiming up to make my kick, I didn’t have to worry about so much, just put my foot on it and let the ball do the rest,” said Cadorette.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonal can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.