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AUBURN — When Trot Moody intercepted Emerson Michaud’s pass with 2:57 remaining in the eight-man football Small School state championship game on Saturday night, it seemed all but certain the Gold Ball was going back to Old Orchard Beach.

Certain to everyone except the Stearns Minutemen.

Just four plays later, the Minutemen forced a turnover of their own, a fumble recovered by freshman Lincoln Daisey with 1:11 to play that sealed a 20-18 win at Edward Little High School.

It’s the first Gold Ball for Stearns since it captured the Class C championship in 1998. The Minutemen (9-2) won a rematch of the 2024 state final and ended Old Orchard Beach’s 20-game winning streak.

“It feels amazing, I’m speechless,” said Stearns senior running back/linebacker Lucas Pelkey. “It’s a special feeling to go out on top.”

The Minutemen won despite turning the ball over four times.

“We told (the team) all week, football is highs and lows,” Stearns coach Cody Herring said. “Especially when you get two good teams that play against each other. We had those moments where we had to play high, we got to. When we had those low moments, we just had to get those out of our head and move on.”

Pelkey rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and also had an interception. Cohen Raymond added 70 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Moody was 7 of 11 passing for 137 yards and a touchdown for Old Orchard Beach (10-1), which was playing in its third straight state championship game. He also had 85 rushing yards on 17 carries. Wesley Gallant had 71 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and 87 yards and one touchdown on five receptions.

Old Orchard Beach took the lead when Moody hit Gallant for a 48-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter. Stearns answered on the next possession when Pelkey scored on a 27-yard run to cap a 51-yard drive.

The Seagulls took a 12-6 lead late in the first quarter when Gallant capped a 61-yard drive with a 1-yard run. Midway through the second quarter, though, Pelkey intercepted a Moody pass, setting up the Minutemen up at the Old Orchard Beach 47. Five plays later, Michaud hit senior Trevor VanDine up the middle for a 24-yard touchdown pass, and Pelkey ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Minutemen a 14-12 lead.

“We worked hard all week, we had meetings in the film room,” said Michaud, who was 3 of 5 passing for 60 yards and had 30 rushing yards. “We did as much as we could (to prepare), and it showed right there (on the touchdown) and was rewarding.”

Stearns kept its momentum going by scoring on the first drive of the second half when Raymond capped an eight-play, 56-yard drive with a 4-yard run.

Stearns appeared to be on its way to another touchdown early in the fourth quarter but stalled on fourth-and-2 at the 12. Old Orchard Beach took advantage, going 88 yards on 18 plays before Gallant plunged into the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Seagulls were called for offsides on the 2-point attempt, however, and Stearns stopped Moody short of the end zone on the ensuing attempt as the Minutemen maintained a 20-18 lead with 3:27 left.

“It took all eight (players), regardless of what happened in that moment,” Herring said. “It was eight guys out there working together. Offensively, we scored more points than them, but this game was won defensively. (Old Orchard Beach) scored 60 points in every game. To hold them to 18 points is huge.”

The Seagulls quickly got the ball back after the failed conversion, as Michaud tossed a deep pass in the middle of the field that was intercepted by Moody and returned 32 yards. Old Orchard Beach got to Stearns 16 before it was flagged for back-to-back holding calls. Moody then fumbled, and Daisey made the recovery to seal the win.

“The kids responded,” Old Orchard Beach coach Dean Plante said. “Credit to Stearns, too, after the late interception, with that kind of return, they could have folded. But they bucked up and got it done, too. All the credit in the world to Stearns, and to our kids, too. That’s what a state championship game should look like.”

Stearns avenged a 60-14 loss in last year’s state final.

“It’s a testament to the kids’ hard work,” Herring said. “We were here last year, knowing what it felt like to be here. That’s not fun. Our kids came here with a mission today.