PORTLAND – With a second half surge for the ages, Mountain Valley won its second state championship in three years Saturday night.

After spending the first half getting adapted to Winslow’s speed and paying for their own mistakes, the Falcons shut the Black Raiders down and scored three unanswered touchdowns to pull off a come-from-behind 24-16 win in a thrilling Class B final at Fitzpatrick Field.

Mountain Valley held Winslow to just 24 yards rushing and two first downs in the second stanza, while the offense got untracked after a shaky first half and scored on pass plays of 66 and 47 yards to win the second Gold Ball in school history.

“We won two years ago, but I was a sophomore,” said senior QB/defensive end Andy Shorey, who was with Mountain Valley when it beat Winslow for its first state title. “This is something that I’ve never really experienced. It’s unbelievable.”

“I told the kids at halftime that things would equal out, and if we played hard, good things would happen,” Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward said.

Good things did happen for the Falcons (12-0) after being in short supply in the first half. Trailing 16-6, they got the big play they needed when Justin Staires took a screen pass from Shorey (9-for-24, 167 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) down the left sideline, breaking two tackles en route to a 66-yard touchdown that pulled his team within 16-12 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

“I was struggling all game to catch a pass and when coach called it, I was doubting myself,” Staires said. “But when I got it, I saw I had lead blocking and I just ran.”

Mountain Valley’s defense took over from there. After giving up an 18-yard run to Justin Lindie early in the half, the Falcons held the Raiders without a first down until their last drive. This after Lindie and fullback John Goulette gashed them for 125 yards on the ground in the first half.

“I saw my linebackers do things tonight that I had never seen, which was instead of coming forward like wrecking balls, we were creating space on the field,” Aylward said. “When my backers are coming forward and taking on blockers, Lindie has to stop his feet. When we’re sitting there and allowing ourselves to get blocked, not only are we getting blocked, but we’re creating a bigger gap on the field. We like to think that we narrow the field as well as anyone.”

“Their offensive and defensive line superiority was the difference,” said Winslow coach Mike Siviski. “We just had a hard time establishing any of our base offense whatsoever. We had a lot of pressure when we threw the ball and we couldn’t string Justin Lindie.”

With momentum gradually building in their favor, the Falcons finally took the lead on a 47-yard TD pass from Shorey to Roberts four minutes into the fourth quarter that made it 18-16.

“They were following my eyes all night, so I looked the safety off,” Shorey said. “Devin was wide open and he made one move on the guy and brought it in the end zone.”

After holding Winslow to three and out, the Falcons burned more than five minutes off the clock on their next drive and added to their cushion with a three-yard TD run by Matt Laubauskas. Winslow last drive to tie it actually got as far as the Falcon-41, but Shorey deflected a pitch and recovered the loose ball in the Black Raider backfield to seal it with under a minute left.

Three special teams plays put the Falcons in a hole in the first half.

A four-yard punt by the Falcons set up Winslow at the Falcon 25 on its second possession and led to a 14-yard TD run up the middle by John Goulette that made it 7-0. Winslow sustained its second drive with a nine-yard run on a fake punt by Lindie (22 carries, 93 yards) that the speedy tailback later topped with a 25-yard TD run that made it 14-0, the first time all year the Falcons had given up two TDs in a game.

Even a blocked field goal backfired on the Falcons. Kyle Dow blocked Ben Poulin’s 27-yard attempt late in the half, but Mountain Valley’s attempt to advance the ball was blown dead at the 2 by an inadvertent whistle. The Falcons took over, and two plays later, Kevin McCabe tackled Roberts in the end zone for a safety that led Winslow to a 16-6 lead at halftime.

Roberts (13 carries, 103 yards) got the Falcons on the board with a one-yard TD run in the second quarter.