BRUNSWICK — Last season was a nightmare for the Brunswick High School football team, with just two wins after three straight State Class B appearances and a 2016 state title.

The finale of this year’s regular season was also a nightmare, a 30-6 loss to Cony where the Dragons were dominated on both sides of the ball.

Brunswick High School’s Jack Harvey (32) runs for a touchdown on the opening drive against Lawrence in Brunswick on Friday. Brunswick won the Class B North Regional Final, 14-10. (Michael G. Seamans / Kennebec Journal)

Since that loss to the Rams, Brunswick has awoken, and after Friday night’s 14-10 come-from-behind win over Lawrence, the Dragons are off to another state final.

Brunswick (8-3), the No. 3 seed in Class B North, will face Marshwood Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, the program’s fourth state title game appearance in the last five years. This will be third meeting in the past five years between the Hawks and the Dragons in the state final, with Marshwood winning in 2014 and 2015.

“They all played last year, so this is a pretty experienced team. They believed if they played hard and stayed the course, good things would happen,” said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper of his Dragons.

For Brunswick, it took a while to adjust to the pace of play that No. 4 Lawrence brought on offense. On most plays, the Bulldogs snapped the ball quickly, breaking off big chunks of yardage and scoring 10 first-quarter points.

“Their pace was awesome and they caught us early,” Cooper said. “But it didn’t take us long to adjust to that pace.”

“The line up front was a lot better and we were more aggressive in the second half,” said Brunswick cornerback Tyler Nadeau, whose interception with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter closed out the Bulldogs.

“As soon as the playoffs began, we realized the weight of every game,” said Dragons running back Mitch Leinert. “We have a really good group here and we want to stay together.”

Good start

Brunswick received the opening kickoff, and it didn’t take long for the Dragons to strike. Jack Harvey took a pitch and sprinted through a big hole, galloping 65 yards to the end zone. Cam Folsom tacked on the point-after kick for a 7-0 Brunswick lead.

“Our whole philosophy is to get out early in the first quarter and hopefully coast the rest of the way, but today it didn’t go that way,” said Leinert, who led the Dragons with 133 rushing yards on 19 carries.

Lawrence answered with a three-minute drive. Running backs Paul Morneau, Alex Higgins and Kyle Carpenter took turns breaking off big runs, with quarterback Dylan Coombs lofting a 13-yard TD pass to Higgins for a 7-7 deadlock.

The Bulldogs were winning the line of scrimmage battle, and after stopping Brunswick’s second drive, Lawrence

Brunswick High School’s Cam Hathaway (2) rushes from the line of scrimmage as Lawrence’s Nate Regaldo (34) waits to make the tackle. (Michael G. Seamans / Kennebec Journal)

again quickly moved down the field. However, a holding penalty stalled the drive inside the Brunswick 20-yard line, with place kicker Christian Adams splitting the uprights with a 33-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead after a quarter for the visitors.

Both teams took turns moving the ball in the second quarter, but the defenses stiffened each time. Brunswick’s Chandler Coombs recovered a Lawrence fumble to end a Bulldogs drive, while Lawrence defenders Kristian Larouche, Michenzie Steeves and Andrew Trombley made key stops, helping the Bulldogs maintain their three-point lead at the half.

The second half began well for the Brunswick defense, with the combination of Nick Munn and Jeremiah McNeill dropping the Lawrence quarterback for a 10-yard sack to force a punt.

“There were no adjustments, we just told them that we had to more physical,” said Cooper of his defense. “Lawrence out-physicaled us in the first half. We had to turn that around. Once we were more physical up front, we stopped them consistently.”

As the game shifted to the fourth quarter, the rain that was light in the third frame picked up in intensity. This only fueled the Dragons, who put together the game-winning drive. Beginning at its own 33-yard line, Brunswick struck quickly as Leinert found room along the Dragons sideline and sprinted 48 yards to the Lawrence 19-yard line.

On fourth down at the 10, quarterback Noah Goddard picked up three yards for a key first down, and the junior capped the 67-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak to paydirt for a 14-10 lead with 7:44 remaining.

“We had no doubt. We trusted the line, the quarterback and our coaches. We knew we were going to do it,” Leinert said.

Lawrence put together its best drive of the second half. Higgins picked up six yards on fourth down to extend the drive, and a 19-yard run by Carpenter had the Bulldogs at the Brunswick 30-yard line. However, the Dragons again stiffened, with a pair of incomplete passes ending the drive with 3:06 remaining.

Lawrence wasn’t finished, as the Bulldog defense forced a Brunswick three-and-out. Chandler Coombs launched a 39-yard punt, with Lawrence taking over at its own 36-yard line.

On first down, Higgins swept right and pulled up, sending a halfback pass along the Brunswick sideline. Nadeau at first thought he was beaten, but managed to recover before intercepting the pass.

“I played that really bad. He ran by me and I didn’t pick up on him, but the guy took forever to throw it, and I was able to recover,” Nadeau said.

Brunswick needed a first down to run out the clock, and Cam Hathaway provided it to finish off the 14-10 victory.

Hathaway picked up 94 yards on the ground on 14 carries as the Dragons rushed for 315 yards.

Morneau led Lawrence with 99 yards on 21 lugs, followed by Higgins (18-97) and Carpenter (19-85). The Bulldogs had 19 first downs in the contest to Brunswick’s 11.

The start time for next Saturday’s State Class B final will be announced by the Maine Principals’ Association.