PORTLAND — Clutch and dynasty are two terms that should not be overused in the world of sports. But, after Saturday’s Class A football championship game, they clearly can be applied to the Thornton Academy Golden Trojans.

The Trojans came up with several big plays as they picked up a 24-14 win over Portland to capture their second straight state title – and their third Gold Ball in the last four years.

“Just a great group of kids. They come out, they work hard and they believe in what we do,” said TA coach Kevin Kezal. “They never panic, they weather storms, they fight through adversity, it’s just a phenomenal group and these seniors are the reason why. The great senior leadership and the underclassmen following their lead.”

Kezal’s squad would jump out to a quick lead thanks to a miscue from Portland, which fumbled a punt early in the opening quarter.

On the ensuing drive, senior quarterback Austin McCrum would convert on a fourth down with a 7-yard pass to Corey Hart and, two plays later, senior running back Greg Ruff would score from six yards out. Cam Cadorette nailed the extra point to make it a seven-point lead with 5:58 left in the first.

The TA defense would force the Bulldogs to punt on their next drive and Ben Lambert would collect the kick and race down the sideline for a 79-yard touchdown. Cadorette’s kick was good and it was 14-0 with 4:08 left in the opening quarter.

Lambert, who also had 76 yards receiving in the game, gave credit to his teammates for helping him take it to the house.

“I (had) Owen (Elliott) and Greg as my lead blockers and they are obviously going to flatten somebody out on the way and then after they flatten them out I was just off to the races at that point,” said Lambert.

The two defenses, which both came in allowing around 10 points per game, would take over the rest of the opening half. Portland picked off a McCrum pass early in the second and Lambert would return the favor as he intercepted an Issiah Bachelder pass just three minutes later. The Bulldogs would also fail on a fake punt at the TA 48-yard line in the second quarter.

Portland would come storming back in the third quarter as the Bulldogs stopped TA on a fourth-and-one from the Trojans’ 37 and would score on a 15-yard pass from Bachelder to Jake Knop at the 7:32 mark.

The Bulldogs’ rally would continue late in the third as a Bachelder pass to Knop would cover 32 yards and put the ball at the TA 32 with 3:41 left. A few plays later, Portland would get the equalizer as Joe Esposito scored from a yard out at the 1:08 mark.

The momentum may have been on the Portland sideline following two straight scores, but the Trojans answered – and in a big way – in the fourth quarter.

A McCrum pass to Lambert would get the Trojans going as the third quarter came to a close. Another pitch-and-catch from McCrum to Lambert would put the ball at the Portland 20, but the drive would stall there.

Lucky for the Trojans, they have a weapon in the leg of Cadorette, who trotted onto the field to try a 32-yard field goal. The TA kicker – like he did in last week’s regional final – would send the goahead kick sailing through the uprights to make it 17-14 with 10:41 left in regulation.

“It feels great that I can contribute to this team in any way … it just feels awesome,” said Cadorette of nailing the goahead kick.

The Bulldogs put together a decent drive a few minutes later as they crossed midfield, but TA junior Mike Laverriere picked off a Bachelder pass with 6:57 remaining.

It looked like Portland had held the Trojans on their ensuing drive, but a personal foul penalty gave TA a fresh set of downs. Two plays later, McCrum scampered for 38 yards to put the ball at the Portland 14 – and the standout QB would call his own number on the next play and score from 14 yards out to make it a 10- point lead.

“They were stuffing the run pretty well and that’s what they do. We knew they would do that and we just had to figure out where we could exploit the defense a little bit,” said McCrum of finally finding some running room.

McCrum knew his team had the ability to answer after Portland came storming back.

“We just preached composure. We’ve been here before, we knew we had to stay calm. We expected adversity, we didn’t know exactly when and it came in the second half … I thought we pulled through it nicely,” said McCrum.

From that point on the Thornton defense would take control.

With 3:58 remaining, senior Eli Ayotte sacked Bachelder to force a Portland punt. Thornton’s offense was able to milk some time off the clock, but would have to give the ball back to Portland with 1:32 left.

Once again, the TA defense stepped up as Elliott picked off Bachelder with 23 seconds left to seal the victory.

“It feels great … we’ve been working all season for this,” said junior standout Rome Pura, who along with Ayotte, pressured the Portland QB. “I think the defense did tremendous. We really stepped it up in the second half and just played our game.”

Kezal was happy with how his defense finished the game.

“Once we got the momentum back, we did a nice job of getting the (pass) rush and we were able to finish the game,” said Kezal.

McCrum, who finished with 137 yards through the air and 78 rushing yards, thought the experience he gained from last year’s state title run helped him on Saturday.

“Honestly, a ridiculous amount,” said McCrum on how much that experienced helped him. “Just being here and being able to have poise and knowing what to expect with the fans and all the craziness going on, it definitely helped.”

Kezal was happy to have his senior class go out on top.

“It’s a great group of seniors. It’s a great culmination for these guys. They have worked so hard,” said Kezal. “Last year, they won it as juniors and they knew they were going to have a bullseye (on their backs) coming into this year. They worked their tails off to get ready for this and I’m just so happy for them.”

The TA coach also talked about the work his team put in during the offseason.

“You win these in January, February and March, that’s when you win it, when the lights not on you, there’s no crowd and nobody is cheering for you, but you’re in the weight room working your tail off, that’s where you get these opportunities and our kids have done a great job of doing that,” said Kezal.

Kezal took some time to thank the Thornton Academy community.

“Our community is phenomenal … we are just so fortunate to have the support that we have,” said Kezal.

NOTES: The 2015 state championship is the eighth in Thornton Academy history … Ruff finished with 44 rushing yards and one TD, while the TA defense collected three sacks … Bachelder finished with 72 passing yards, one TD and three interceptions for Portland, while Esposito finished the game with 55 yards and one score on the ground.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.