Gorham followed the same process all year; force mistakes, capitalize on them and win.

Saturday in the Class A State Championship game, the Rams had those same exact things done to them, losing, 14-13, to Lawrence at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

A fumbled kickoff, a blocked extra point and penalties were just a few of the uncharacteristic mistakes that cost the Rams.

However, the game and the scoreboard did nothing to change how proud Gorham coach Dave Kilborn is of the team.

“I’m proud of my guys and the way we played,” Kilborn said. “I love the way they played. They put their heart and soul on the field. A couple breaks here and there; that’s all it was.”

The Western Class A champs entered the fourth quarter trailing, 14-7, but they wasted no time in the final frame. Quarterback Mark Clements opened the quarter with a 39-yard strike deep over the middle to running back Justin Villacci for the combo’s second touchdown of the game.

“Villacci is the fastest kid on the field at all times,” Clements said. “I trusted him to get open.”

But the celebration was short-lived. Lawrence’s Aaron Champagne broke through the middle of Gorham’s line to block Anders Nielsen’s extra point attempt, preventing the Rams from pulling even.

Gorham was back on offense with 10 minutes to play, trailing by one. On fourth-and-four, Clements passed to Jon Mitchell for a 10-yard hookup that kept the go-ahead drive alive. Gorham eventually moved the ball to Lawrence’s 24.

It was there, on fourth-and-two, that Gorham seemed poised to keep their momentum going. But a false start penalty pushed them back five yards and Kilborn elected to try a long field goal instead of going for the first down.

“It’s a penalty; it’s a part of the game,” Kilborn said. “You can look back and ask ‘What if?’ but we aren’t going to do that.”

Nielsen’s kick was on target but short, landing in the end zone five yards shy of the goalposts.

“We just didn’t play our game,” Mitchell said. “A few inches here and there; the fourth downs. It’s tough; it’s tough losing by just inches. The blocked extra point; there was just a lot of stuff that didn’t go our way today that had all season. It’s tough to lose like that.”

Gorham fumbled the game’s opening kickoff and Lawrence recovered at the Rams 29-yard line. Seven running plays later, the final a six-yarder by Champagne, and Lawrence was up 6-0.

However, showing the heart their coach spoke of, the Rams battled back. Beginning its next drive at their own eight-yard line, Gorham used 10 straight running plays to move the ball out to the 45. Then, on second-and-seven, Clements hit Villacci streaking down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing extra point gave the Rams a 7-6 lead.

“It was probably the best game of my career,” Clements said. “Big players step up in big games so I wanted to put the team on my shoulders and do the best I could. It worked out for me in that sense but I would trade it all for a win.”

After Gorham failed to convert a fourth down on its own 45-yard line in the second quarter, Lawrence again began a drive with a short field. Five plays later Champagne got free for a 36-yard touchdown run, breaking several tackles along the way.

Champagne then swept right for a successful two-point conversion, putting Lawrence ahead, 14-7, going into halftime.

“We said at halftime they had scored two touchdowns off a total maybe 50 yards,” Mitchell said. “We were driving the ball and had nothing to show for it.”

Although trailing by seven, Gorham out-gained Lawrence 150 yards to 146 in the first half. The Bulldogs’ scoring drives were 29 and 45 yards.

“It was right there,” Clements said of the game. “They capitalized on our mistakes. How many times does an extra point get blocked? It’s a tough one to swallow. You look across at the other quarterback and he is the one with the gold ball.”