PORTLAND — The Leavitt Hornets had the offense and the defense to win the third state championship in school history. The only thing they needed was a closer.

Senior tailback Josh Strickland is the Mariano Rivera of Maine high school football closers.

Strickland’s 51-yard touchdown run put Saturday night’s Class B title game on ice. His 37th carry of the evening gave him 300 yards and a fourth touchdown. More importantly, it gave the Hornets a 35-21 win, a perfect season, and another Gold Ball.

“All the weightlifting and the running pays off,” Strickland said.

“He’s just a great running back,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “He’s the best player I’ve coached, no question. He’s one of the best ones I’ve watched in high school.”

If Strickland was the closer, Lucas Witham was a crackerjack set-up man. After Cape’s Tom Foden scored on a 3-yard touchdown to pull the Capers (11-1) to within 28-21 with 1:01 remaining, Witham pounced on the ensuing onside kick attempt at Leavitt’s 49.

On the Hornets’ first play from scrimmage, Strickland raced around the left side, slipped away from a tackler and sprinted down the sideline to set off a championship frenzy on the Leavitt sideline.

“There was talk that Foden is better than Strickland, so we just wanted to go out there and prove that Strickland is the best running back in the state,” Leavitt senior tackle Matt Pellerin said. “We just pounded holes for him all night long.”

The pounding began in the first half, when Leavitt (12-0) outgained Cape by a margin of 2-to-1 and held the ball twice as long.

A Jesse Pelletier sack forced Cape to punt out of its own end zone. That set the Hornets up at the Capers’ 42. Strickland, Jon Letourneau and Eric Theiss ran the ball down to the 7, where Theiss connected with a wide-open Letourneau in the right corner of the end zone to make it 7-0 with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

“I almost did not catch that,” Letourneau said. “It got lost in the lights. At the last second I saw it.”

Cape needed just three plays to respond on a 49-yard TD run down the right sideline by Kyle Piscopo.

The Hornets couldn’t take advantage of a Jake Ouellette interception and return that put them in Cape territory again, but the defense kept Cape pinned back. Cape punter Patrick Tyler had to scramble back to his end zone to field a snap that went over his head and got off a great kick, but it was only for 22 yards net. Leavitt drove 56 yards on eight plays, with Strickland scoring from three yards to make it 14-7 going into halftime.

Leavitt kept Cape’s drives short in the first half by containing Foden (34 yards first half, 87 on 19 carries for the game) and pressuring Ezra Wolfinger (6-for-14, 65 yards, 2 INT, four sacks). The Capers had just 79 total yards in the first half.

“Josh and the offensive line were pretty key, but I thought our defense did a great job,” Hathaway said. “That’s a high-powered offense. They had a lot of weapons. We gave them one big play and we gave them one short field, but other than that, I thought we were pretty steady.”

“We all have our lanes to keep,” Letourneau said. “We all know that Foden is a fast back and we had to contain him. In the secondary, if he broke loose at all, we made the fills. But our D-line just made it happen, all night.”

Leavitt took the opening kickoff for the second half and marched 76 yards in six plays to open up a 21-7 lead. The big play was a Theiss pass over the middle to Letourneau for 48 yards down to the Cape 8. Two Strickland runs later, it was a two-touchdown game.

Cape got the break it needed when a botched punt return gave the Capers the ball at the Leavitt 33. A 7-yard touchdown run by Wolfinger pulled them back within a touchdown with 1:41 left in the third quarter.

An interception by Letourneau at Cape’s 46 set up the Hornets’ next score. A holding penalty put them in a 3rd-and-13 hole, but Strickland rendered it moot with a 36-yard scoring run for a 28-14 lead with 9:15 remaining.

“He brought his ‘A’ game today,” Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo said. “He had a couple of nice runs and he’s a good back.”

“What can I tell you. They were a better football team,” he added.

A Mitch Cobb sack, the fourth of the game for Leavitt, seemed to confirm that with seven minutes left, but Cape’s defense snuffed out a Leavitt drive to its own 20 to give its offense a shot at a comeback. The Capers drove 76 yards in 90 seconds and still had two time outs to leave everyone in suspense until Strickland’s final statement.

“It’s a dream,” Strickland said. “We’ve been dreaming this since second grade. It was a lot of hard work.”

Fans congratulate Buck Bochtler after Leavitt’s 35-21 win over Cape Elizabeth in the Class B State Championship football game Saturday in Portland.

Leavitt celebrates after its 35-21 win over Cape Elizabeth in the Class B state championship football game Saturday in Portland.

Cape Elizabeth’s Stephen Homa attempts to catch Leavitt’s Josh Strickland in the Class B state football championship Saturday. Leavitt won 35-21 and Strickland ran for 300 yards.

Leavitt’s Jordan Hersom snags Cape Elizabeth’s Kyle Piscopo and holds on during the second half of the Class B state championship game Saturday in Portland. The Hornets won, 35-21.

Lucas Witham kisses the gold ball after Leavitt’s Class B state championship win over Cape Elizabeth on Saturday.

Leavitt’s Jason Fisher attempts to intercept a pass intended for Cape Elizabeth’s Finn Melanson during the second half of the Class B state championship game Saturday.

Cape Elizabeth’s Thomas Foden wraps up Leavitt’s Isaiah Wright in the second half of their game.

Luke Wiley celebrates a 35-21 State Class B victory over Cape Elizabeth, their first state title since 1997.

Max Cloutier gets a hug from head coach Michael Hathaway after Leavitt won the Class B state title in Portland on Saturday.