PORTLAND — Cheverus fans had to wait a quarter of a century between state football championships, but Spencer Cooke’s third quarter allowed them to celebrate this one a little early.

Cooke rushed for 176 of his game-high 241 yards in the third quarter and scored on the Stags’ first four possessions of the second half to lead Cheverus to a convincing 46-8 victory over Bangor in the Class A state championship game Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

The title is the Stags’ first since 1985 and second overall. Bangor, which lost last year’s championship game to Windham, finished 10-2.

Cheverus (12-0) led 9-8 at halftime thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Louis DiStasio and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Peter Gwilym to Jack Bushey, then scored 39 unanswered points in the second half.

The Stags took the opening kickoff in the second half and marched 69 yards in 12 plays. The scoring deluge started with a 3-yard run by Cooke, who was just getting started.

After Bangor kicker Carl Farnham missed a 32-yard field goal attempt, Cooke took a hand-off to the left side, lowered his shoulder through an arm tackle and sprinted 42 yards down the sideline for his second touchdown. He added the two-point run to make it 25-8 with 1:59 left in the third quarter.

Cooke added an 88-yard tochdown run with six seconds left in the third, then capped the scoring with a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter. Cam Olsen provided the final margin with a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Bangor led, 8-3 early in the second quarter after Nick Sherwood caught a 36-yard TD pass from Joe Seccareccia and a fake PAT pass for two points from Farnham to Wyatt Frost.

Cheverus out-rushed Bangor, 366-73.

Seccareccia was 11-for-23 for 181 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Bangor running back Josiah Hartley rushed for 67 yards on 20 carries. Gwilym rushed for 58 yards on 12 carries and 7 of 9 passes for 81 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.