BRUNSWICK – The Brunswick Dragons were breathing down Mt. Blue’s neck in the second half when the Cougars called in two decisive air strikes in a Class A football game Friday night.

The Cougars were holding on to a slim 14-12 lead after halftime when quarterback Joe Gilbert connected with Bobby Duley with a 40- and 58-yard receptions to steer Mt. Blue to a 34-28 victory over the rough-and tumble Dragons as the fog rolled in and out at Brunswick High School.

Gilbert completed nine passes in 14 attempts for 183 yards. Besides his two touchdowns, Duley caught five passes for 155 yards.

“I have so much faith in Joe Gilbert. I think he is one of the best quarterbacks in this league,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin.

The Cougars thought they had put the game out of reach in the third quarter when Duley scored on a 40-yard pass reception and Derek Rowe rushed in from the 1-yard line for a touchdown, giving Mt. Blue a 28-12 lead.

But the Dragons weren’t about to call it quits in the fourth quarter, and scored two well-engineered touchdowns.

“I think they (Dragons) are big and physical; their backs run hard,” said Parlin.

In the fourth quarter, Brunswick came straight at the Cougars, pushing and shoving the ball from the 37 to the 12-yard line.

That’s when Robbie Basquez saw Jake Blake open in the clear and tossed him a touchdown pass, making the Cougars squirm with nine minutes and 47 seconds left in the game.

But the Cougars wasted no time punching up another six points.

On the next possession, Gilbert dropped back to pass and hit Duley with a marvelous 58-yarder, giving Mt. Blue some breathing room with a 34-20 lead.

“We know Mt. Blue was going to be tough to stop on that spread offense,” said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper.

“They ran that offense a lot better than we expected. I give them all the credit; they played really well. They executed so well.”

The Dragons still had some life left in them late in the fourth quarter when Basquez connected with Conner Breisacher for a 7-yard touchdown receptions with two minutes left in the game.

Basquez also hooked up with Dan Scully for the two-point conversion.

But time was on Mt. Blue’s side as they ground the game to a halt and watched the last two minutes slip away.

“The second half our defense stepped it up a bit,” added Parlin.

In the first half, Brunswick got on the board first when the Cougars fumbled on the 26 on the first play of the game, setting up the Dragons with mouth-watering field position.

Brunswick moved the ball to the 2, where Basquez snuck in to give the Dragons a 6-0 lead.

The Cougars, however, bounced right back and scored on the next possession, thanks to faked punt that put them at the 33.

From there, Mt. Blue forced its way to the 9 where DJ Wilbur scored.

Gilbert threw a two-point conversion pass to Ben Atlmaier and the Cougars were now ahead, 8-6.

The teams traded touchdowns again, with Gilbert scoring on a 2-yard run and Brunswick’s Camden Miller coming across from the 1.