WESTBROOK — Brian Curit was “mortally embarrassed” by his Biddeford High football team’s uninspired first-half effort Saturday.

The unbeaten Tigers responded in the second half, even if it wasn’t an error-free half, as both Biddeford and Westbrook were prone to mistakes and missed chances throughout the game. But Biddeford rose to hard-hitting Westbrook’s challenge and scored all its points in the second half for a 20-7 win.

Brady Crepeau powers through the Westbrook secondary on his way to a long gain in the third quarter. He rushed for 140 yards and two TDs. Photos by John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Westbrook running back Miece Loureiro uses a block from Hayden Phelps to avoid Biddeford defender Cam Lantagne during a Class B South game Saturday in Westbrook. Loureiro finished with nearly 200 yards rushing and receiving, but Biddeford won, 20-7.

“We knew what we were going to get from Westbrook. We knew it was going to be a street fight,” Curit said. “I have great respect for their coaching staff and their kids. Their kids are a lot like ours.

“I thought we were sleep-walking. We weren’t physical. We were missing tackles. That’s not us. Second half, you know what? They played a little more like Biddeford High School.”

Biddeford (4-0) put an exclamation point on the victory when, with 5.2 seconds to play, punter Tommy Bertrand was asked to keep the ball and run around long enough to kill the clock with the Tigers protecting a 14-7 lead. Bertrand ran all the way to the end zone for an 88-yard touchdown.

“Coach was like, ‘you’re athletic enough, just run around for five seconds,'” Bertrand said. “Then I saw two blockers and one of their guys and somebody hit him, and then I just took off as fast as I could.”

The Blue Blazes (2-2) had a chance to tie the game or take the lead moments earlier but failed to cash in after getting a first down at the Biddeford 14 with 1:45 to play. Westbrook foiled itself with consecutive false-start penalties (its fourth and fifth of the half) and two dropped passes, the latter on fourth down.

“They made some great adjustments in the second half and their kids eliminated their mistakes, and we weren’t as sound as we were hoping,” Westbrook Coach Jeff Guerette said.

Biddeford’s Brady Crepeau rushed for 105 of his 140 yards in the second half, with touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards. He set up each of his scores with long runs.

Crepeau popped a dive play for 47 yards on Biddeford’s first play of the second half, finally getting stopped at the Westbrook 8. He scored four plays later.

“We weren’t down on each other or down on ourselves at halftime, but we were just overall (mad) about how we were playing in the first half,” Crepeau said.

Biddeford kicker Mitchell Farley missed the extra point, leaving Westbrook ahead 7-6. The Tigers’ next two possessions ended with a missed 37-yard field goal by Caleb Ball and quarterback Joey Curit’s fumbled snap being recovered at the Westbrook 8 by Blazes lineman Jameson Marean.

Crepeau put the Tigers in front with 7:30 remaining, driving in from the 4 one play after he rumbled 40 yards with an option pitch. Joey Curit ran in for the 2-point conversion.

Westbrook had a 148-77 edge in first-half yardage and engineered a 95-yard drive that included a 21-yard run by Miece Loureiro on third-and-16.

Loureiro had 23 carries for 109 yards and a 2-yard touchdown and five catches for 80 yards.

“At first we showed we could come out and do what we do,” Loureiro said. “In the second half, that’s when we started to doubt ourselves and get a little (overconfident) at the same time.”