SOUTH BERWICK — There are a million reasons why sports are cool. At Marshwood High on Friday night, two of those reasons were Michael Sbrizza and Brady Isabella.

Sbrizza is Marshwood’s junior quarterback, now a month into his first season as the Hawks starter. Isabella is a senior, a wide receiver and kicker for Marshwood. In Friday’s Homecoming game against Cheverus, both made a mistake that could have been the difference between a win and a loss. Both shook off their mistake and played a part in the play that gave Marshwood a 23-22 come-from-behind win.

With 1:49 to play and the Hawks facing second-and-9 at the Cheverus 25, Sbrizza dropped back and hit Isabella in stride as he ran into the front left corner of the end zone to tie the game. Isabella drilled the go-ahead extra point.

“We weren’t getting what we wanted on the pass plays, stuff wasn’t coming up, so we were heavy on the ground,” Isabella said. “Coach (Alex Rotsko) said we’ve got a good pass play, and to look back side. I wasn’t even the main target, in the corner, but you know, I was open.”

It was the only pass Marshwood attempted in the second half. With three downs to get 10 yards and move the chains, Rotsko figured, why not throw now and go for it? If it doesn’t work, there’s still two more downs.

Marshwood still had to hold off one final Stags drive, which ended near midfield when Colton Jewett’s long pass fell incomplete.

What makes Sbrizza’s touchdown pass to Isabella a study in mental toughness is what happened just before.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Marshwood defense made the stand of the game, stuffing the Stags on fourth-and-goal inside the 1. Then, Cheverus got the defensive stop it needed, forcing Sbrizza, also Marshwood’s punter, to boot the ball from the back of his own end zone.

The punt came off Sbrizza’s foot dreadfully and netted 8 yards. Cheverus took over on the Marshwood 11 and needed only one play to grab the lead on a Isaac Horler run.

Sbrizza didn’t fold. He forgot about his punt and went to work.

The first play of the winning drive was a counter run by Gregory Castoras, who got a block, found the corner, and went 46 yards. The next play was a run up the middle by Noah Goodwin for maybe a yard.

The next play was poise personified. Like a good leader, Sbrizza deflected any credit sent his way.

“You know what? It’s all of our guys. We’re all mentally tough. We don’t have a lot of guys, so it’s one big unit,” he said. “We pick each other up. I think that’s one of the best qualities about our team. We’re all there for each other, no matter what.”

Isabella said he’s come to expect big plays from his first-year starting quarterback.

“(Sbrizza) can get out of the pocket, but he wants to throw the ball more. He’s a little bit bigger of a kid, so when he steps up and throws that ball, you know it’s going to be in your arm,” Isabella said. “I think that highlights his leadership of our team. He conducts a very organized offense. We’re strict. Bad punt, but he came off the field, focused up, and led a great drive.”

Rotsko expected Sbrizza to be a strong leader. He saw some time last season when starter Ty Hussey was banged up. Plus, he’s been the starting catcher on the baseball team since he was a freshman. Leadership situations find Sbrizza.

“He plays with confidence. He’s been playing varsity sports. He’s been here before,” Rotsko said.

Isabella made the extra point easily. In the final seconds of the first half, he nailed a 28-yard field goal to give the Hawks a 9-7 halftime lead. This was after his first extra point try of the night clanged off the left upright.

“I got my timing messed up. It was nice to come back. I’m confident inside the 30,” Isabella said.

The Hawks made a number of big plays in last week’s 35-21 win over Gorham, with Isabella and Sbrizza in the middle of things. Rotsko has seen this movie. It’s worth a rewatch.

“Same thing last week, actually. We were down 21-7 at halftime last week and we came back and scored a bunch of points in the second half, and those guys made some big plays,” he said.

Next week, the Hawks play at Class A rival Noble, just up the road. What can they do for an encore?