BANGOR — For the first time in school history, the Mt. Desert Island trophy case is getting a gold football.

MDI quarterback Spencer Laurendeau ran for 145 yards and scored a touchdown to lead the Trojans to a 28-0 win over Greely in the eight-man Large School state championship game Saturday at Cameron Stadium.

MDI finishes the season at 9-1. A year after going 0-7, Greely ends with a 6-4 record.

“They’ve been playing football at MDI since 1968, and years before that they were playing at Bar Harbor High School,” MDI Coach Mark Shields said. “To finally get it done, it feels pretty good.”

The Trojans scored on their first drive, taking control of the game early. Laurendeau’s 1-yard run midway through the first quarter gave the Trojans the lead.

In the final minute of the second quarter, MDI went deep into the playbook for its second touchdown, with halfback Jacob Shields throwing a 26-yard pass to Jarron Biekert for a 16-0 halftime lead.

Laurendeau’s 39-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Cal Hodgdon on the first drive of the third quarter pushed MDI’s lead to 22-0. The play worked because the Greely defense was so geared up to contain Laurendeau and the running attack that Hodgdon went uncovered.

“We knew we were the best team in the state. We just wanted to show them we were the best team in the state,” Laurendeau said. “That’s basically what we’ve run on all year, running the ball.”

Less than a minute after Hodgdon’s touchdown, Evan MacKenzie’s 17-yard fumble return made it 28-0.

Greely had its chances, but six drives ended on downs in MDI territory and another ended with a Laurendeau interception.

“Defensively we’ve been solid all year long. We threw a lot of different stuff at them. Our kids, they just met the challenge today,” Shields said.

“I’ve known Spencer since he was a little kid. He’s always been the best athlete on the field, on the court, whatever sport he’s playing. He’s just hard to stop, and he was again today.”

Laurendeau said the defensive stops came down to focusing on fundamentals.

“Just breaking down and wrapping up. We knew they have some athletes,” he said. “Athletes, athletes, athletes. We had to buckle down and do our thing.”

The Rangers lost quarterback Andrew Padgett to an arm injury in the second quarter. Freshman Luke Piper took over under center and threw for 142 yards.

“Luke’s a good player. We trust in Luke. It’s not just one football player who wins or loses football games. It’s the ultimate team sport,” Greely Coach Caleb King said.

For Greely, the shutout loss was a tough way to end a historic season. After playing for several seasons as a co-op team with Falmouth, the school restarted its own program last year and went 0-7. The Rangers then began this season with a 1-3 record before reeling off five straight wins to advance to the state championship game.

“I’m super proud of the guys. They made a commitment to be a good football team, and they did that,” King said.

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