The Cougars’ fans, however, might be cursing it under their collective breath.

Bessey ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries and also had an interception to lead unbeaten Brunswick to a 34-20 win and hand Mt. Blue its third straight loss.

“It’s amazing,” Bessey said after receiving post-game congratulations from his family, including his grandfather, who coached at Mt. Blue for 37 years. “I’m glad that I could help the team out and we could get the win.”

Taking its first big road test this year, Brunswick  (5-0) never trailed. The Dragons stayed patient with the running game, even though Mt. Blue’s defense, led by Tyler Sennick, Dustin Richards and Brian Harris, had most of the outside lanes shut off early. Big plays by senior QB Brady Larson  (6-for-8, 199 yards, TD) kept the Cougars off-balance and consistently pushed momentum back in Brunswick’s favor.

“The thing that makes them hard to defense, they have a very good quarterback,” Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said. “They want to run the ball, and you have to put eight, nine guys in the box. You hang your defensive backs out to dry. They’re the best team in our league.”

“They did great up front. They stopped us on the run, so we had to change the game plan a little bit,” Larson said. “I give credit to my line. My line really helped out today.”

Larson’s only TD pass put the Dragons in front for good, just one play after the  Cougars (2-3) tied it at 7-7 in the second quarter.

Cam Abbott, who started at quarterback in place of a banged-up Andrew Pratt  (knee) threw a 19-yard pass over the middle to Kindle Bonsall to break even. But, starting at his own 36, Larson found Lucas  McCue on the right hash mark. McCue turned right and sprinted down the sideline for the 74-yard score.

“I was the  one who got burned (by Bonsall) on the touchdown pass, so I knew I had to get back out there and do it,” Larson said. “The play worked perfectly. I rolled out and I saw pressure. I threw on the run and he ran a great route. He made a great catch and he has the breakaway speed to get away.”

Bessey’s interception gave the Dragons the ball at their own 40 with 126 left in the half. Larson’s 45-yard pass to Joe Perkins set up Bessey’s first touchdown run, from nine yards out, with 40 seconds left for a 21-7 lead.

Abbott’s interception on Brunswick’s opening drive of the second half set up an electrifying 33-yard run by JT Williams (14 carries, 76 yards). Pratt, who entered the game on the Cougars’ second drive, connected with Abbott (5 catches, 105 yards), who outfought a Brunswick defender along the right sideline for a 37-yard touchdown that pulled the Cougars back within seven early in the third quarter.

Brunswick responded again as Larson engineered a nine-play, 61-yard drive, completing a drive-extending 16-yard pass to McCue on 3rd-and-9. Bessey capped it with his second nine-yard TD run, and it was 28-14 with 238 left in the third.

Pratt pulled the Cougars back within 28-20 with a four-yard TD run with 42 seconds  left  in the third.

But after running for just 49 yards in the first half, the Dragons moved the chains with 147 on the ground in the second half, including a backbreaking 10-play, 5:16 drive capped by Bessey’s 5-yard TD run with 2:41 left. Ricky Klatt intercepted Pratt in the end zone to seal it with 1:02 left.

“We weren’t as strong as we wanted to be with the run in the first half, so we really took it up a notch in the second half,” Bessey said.

The Dragons host Messalonskee next week. The Cougars, who were playing without standout senior receiver Nate Backus (concussion), lost guard/linebacker Connor Farrington to an apparent knee injury in the first half.  They hope to turn their season around when they host Gardiner.

“We told our kids, ‘You win the last three you go to the playoffs. You win two of the last three and you have to start looking for help,'” Parlin said.

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