PORTLAND – Belfast running back Jeff Parenteau ran the ball 32 times for 102 yards in Saturday night’s Class B state championship game at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

He would have like to have had one more carry and one more yard.

With 1:28 remaining in the game on a cold, windy night, Parenteau was stopped 1 yard short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2 and Scarborough came away with a 14-12 win and the state championship.

“I sprained my ankle on the last drive. I’d just like a couple more holes to put it in on that last drive. All we needed was one more play, I think,” said Parenteau, whose 102 yards put him over the 5,000-yard mark for his high school career.

Scarborough had little success in the first half and trailed 12-0 entering the third quarter. But the Red Storm took the lead for the first time with 10:01 left in the game when junior quarterback Drew Crandell threw the perfect pass and senior Steve McNaughton ran the perfect route for a 63-yard scoring strike. It was the first time McNaughton had ever run the post pattern from the tight end position.

“I’m usually the split end, but they were overshifting the [safeties] and I lined up at tight end. I ran a post. One on one coverage and I beat them. Drew made a beautiful pass. I can’t even describe the feeling right now. The pass was perfect. The pass was perfect,” McNaughton said.

The play was a knife in the heart to Belfast. The Lions had dominated play. They would finish the game having run 68 plays to the 12-0 Red Storm’s 31. They had stormed out to 12-0 halftime lead on a pair of second-quarter touchdowns.

The first came on a 2-yard run by senior quarterback John Lear, and they followed that by recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lear to senior receiver Jay Ames.

It looked, at the half, as if 11-1 Belfast was in complete control. Scarborough, after all, was only in its third season playing football at the varsity level. And the Red Storm had not given their fans much hope, picking up just a single first down in the first half.

“I really think we put ourselves in a tough situation in the first half. We never got field position. Even though we were down, we played pretty good. We really thought we could hang in there, and we just needed to get the offense going and we did,” Scarborough coach Jack Flynn said.

The Red Storm’s offense came alive in the second half. Taking over the ball at their own 43 with 5:11 to go in the third quarter, Crandell, who completed four of five passes for 111 yards in the game, connected with junior Ted Bonefant on a pass play that moved the ball to the Belfast-28. On the next play senior running back Nick Demena, who had 84 yards on 13 carries, broke around the left side and raced to the end zone to put Scarborough on the board. Crandell then hit senior Michael Slovak for the two-point conversion.

“They had two great plays on offense that kinda sent us reeling,” Belfast coach Butch Arthers said.

Still, Belfast trailed by only two points at 14-12 when they took over the ball at their own 43 with 10:01 left in the game following McNaughton’s TD catch.

The Lions began a drive that will be long remembered. Sixteen plays later, the Lions were at the Scarborough 2-yard line with 1:28 remaining in the game.

Arthers said they dismissed the idea of a field goal attempt after having one almost blocked in the first half. Additionally, the kick would have been into a strong wind and on this cold night the ball was not carrying very well.

The Lions called a timeout, set up a play, and then called timeout again after seeing Scarborough’s defensive set.

But the Red Storm’s defense came up with a big play, stopping Parenteau short on the off-tackle run.

RED STORM 14, LIONS 12

Belfast (11-1) 0 12 0 0 ? 12

Scarborough (11-1) 0 0 8 6 ? 14

B ? Lear 2 run (pass failed)

B ? Ames 10 pass from Lear (run failed)

S ? Demena 28 run (Slovick pass from Crandall)

S ? McNaughton 63 pass from Crandall (run failed)

Belfast Scarborough

First downs 14 6

Rushing att.-yards 59-168 22-85

Passing comp.-att. 4-6 4-5

Passing yards 36 111

Total yards 204 196

Punts-avg. 3-32.3 4.20.2

Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-1

Intercepted by 0 0

Penalties-yards 2-10 2-10

Rushing

Belfast: Parenteau 32-102, Lear 19-58, Ames 2-5, Welch 5-2, Herman 1-1; Scarborough: Demena 13-84, Hitchcock 3-15, Slovak 3-1, Ellison 1-0, Crandall 2-(-6), Team 1-(-6)

Passing

Belfast: Lear 4-6-0-36; Scarborough: Crandall 4-5-0-111

Receiving

Belfast: Ackley 1-17, Ames 1-10, Welch 1-6, Aldus 1-3; Scarborough: McNaughton 2-83, Bonefant 1-25, Slovak 1-3

A?3,000 (est.)