LEWISTON — Fryeburg Academy rolled to a 28-0 victory over Hermon in the Class C football state championship game Saturday at Lewiston High’s Don Roux Field.

The Raiders (9-2) parlayed a strong ground game and stellar defense into a convincing victory and their first state championship in 59 years.

Ty Boone rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter, before Daniel Ruiz and Malik Sow rushed for second-half touchdowns.

“We saw some mismatches,” Boone said. “We could run on them. We’ve been planning for it all week. We put our run-installs in all week. We executed it today.”

Ruiz also had an interception late in the first half and finished with nine carries for 86 yards.

Sow had 13 carries for 82 yards.

“Well, it feels great,” Fryeburg Academy Coach David Turner said. “I mean, anytime you win something, because this is one of those situations where everybody at the end, only one team is happy. So I’m just happy for these guys. They worked really hard.”

It didn’t take long for the Raiders to get on the board.

Fryeburg blocked a punt at the Hermon 34 early in the game and needed just three plays to find the end zone, as Boone scored on a 20-yard run. The successful point after made it 7-0 with 7:39 left in the first quarter.

“Yeah, I mean, I just saw my (offensive) line, my running backs, everyone just blocked perfectly,” Boone said.

Hermon (8-3) struggled to gain yards on its second possession, and then a fake punt attempt was stopped at their own 22. Boone then rushed in from the 11 with 3:25 remaining in the opening quarter.

“We like to win the first half, we liked that,” Turner said. “We went with it, we wanted to put the pressure on them, keep them pinned. We were able to score twice.”

Boone finished with 69 yards on nine carries.

Turnovers haunted both teams for the remainder of the half. The Hawks jumped on a fumble late in the first quarter but couldn’t capitalize.

After a Fryeburg punt, Hermon went on a 16-play drive, highlighted by two completions on fourth down. After a 27-yard pass earlier in the drive, Ethan Curtis found Griffin Dunton for an 18-yard catch to the Raiders 18.

The drive ended, though, when Ruiz picked off a pass at the 8 on fourth-and-goal.

“I think it’s a great feeling; I think that interception helped the team and we motivated each other,” Ruiz said. “It’s just great, it’s just great.”

Hermon was unable to establish its running game. Curtis was 5 of 11 passing for 71 yards.

“Later on when we started to pass the ball, it looked pretty good,” Hermon Coach Kyle Gallant said. “So, yeah, unfortunately, can’t take it back, but we’re proud of our kids and proud of them fighting today.”

Max Hopkins led Hermon with 42 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Fryeburg threatened after Ruiz’s interception, but Sam Hopkins intercepted a Boone pass in the red zone late in the second quarter.

The Raiders then opened the third quarter with an eight-play drive, highlighted by Sow’s  30-yard run to the Hermon 15. Ruiz finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown.

Sow capped a nine-play drive early in the fourth quarter with a 5-yard run.

“I think once we got up three scores, we just wanted to control the ball and take time off the clock and end the game,” Turner said.