STANDISH — A rainy night and playoff football means it’s a good time to get the power running game going.

Bonny Eagle’s offense rushed for 241 yards Friday, and its defense forced four turnovers to pave the way to a 27-12 Class A South semifinal win over third-seeded Noble.

Colby McCormack did much of the heavy lifting in the ground game, gaining 143 yards on 16 carries. The senior showed the ability to pick a hole and then tack on extra yardage with a strong finish.

“I trusted my offensive line. A shout-out to them,” McCormack said. “It was great up front today. Can’t do it without them.”

McCormack said he was motivated by the memory of last season’s regional semifinal, when Noble visited Bonny Eagle and knocked the Scots out of the playoffs.

“We saw the way our seniors last year walked off the field and we knew we didn’t want to end our season like that,” McCormack said.

NEXT STOP, SACO

After the game, Bonny Eagle’s thoughts quickly turned to its next game. The second-ranked Scots will go to Saco to face No. 1 Thornton Academy (9-1) in the South final. In the regular season, Thornton dominated in the running game and won 42-21 in Standish.

“Can’t wait. It doesn’t get much better than Bonny Eagle vs. TA. They got us last time, but it’s hard to beat a great team twice, so we’ll be ready,” McCormack said.

In the regular-season meeting, the Scots came out passing on their first series. McCormack didn’t get his first carry until late in the second quarter.

“I regret that decision a little bit. Tonight we wanted to establish the run right away,” Cooper said.

A regional final matchup with Thornton has appeared likely since the early weeks of the season.

“Our guys are going to look forward to it, I think, as I’m sure their guys will, too,” Cooper said. “It’s going to be, hopefully, a great game, and we can find a little bit better than we did last time.”

EMOTIONAL END

Noble’s players and coaches took a long, quiet time together after the game was over, with many hugs between coaches and players.

Noble finished the season 7-3, losing twice to Bonny Eagle and once to Thornton. The Knights began the season with few returning starters after being led a year ago by Fitzpatrick Trophy winning quarterback Jamier Rose.

“This group did a lot of things to get to this point. All the hard work in the offseason and a lot of people thought we’d be rebuilding and not that great this year,” said Noble coach Keenon Blindow. “They went 7-2 (in the regular season) and lost to a good Bonny Eagle team. I’m proud of the group.”

Noble was held to 65 yards rushing — 51 of those on scrambles by quarterback Mark Lapointe. His 25-yard scamper in the first quarter set up a 1-yard run by Michael Richardson, and Lapointe had a 26-yard TD run, also on a scramble to the left side, with 34 seconds to play.

Lapointe was 15 of 22 passing for 171 yards but was intercepted three times and fumbled once. Aidan Keefe had eight receptions for 105 yards.

KEY MOMENTS

Bonny Eagle fumbled the game’s opening kickoff and Noble recovered at the 23, but the Knights came up empty when Tyler Gray’s 35-yard field-goal attempt drifted wide left.

The Scots took advantage with a 10-play, 80-yard drive, featuring six runs by McCormack, including his 7-yard touchdown, and got a 2-point conversion pass from Caleb Racicot to Drew Gervais for an 8-0 lead.

After Richardson scored for Noble, Gervais turned a quick screen from Colin Moran into a 71-yard sprint to the end zone.

Moran (5 yards) and Lucas Klehn (2 yards) added touchdown runs in the second and fourth quarters to build a 27-6 lead.

Caden Cooper, Klehn and Ben Noe had interceptions for Bonny Eagle in the second half.