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Few high school football teams are going to walk away from a 21-point win over their biggest rival and feel like they could have played a lot better. But Portland is the defending Class A state champion, so a 35-14 victory over Deering in which it was outscored in the second half doesn’t meet the standard.

“We did good, but there’s a lot left in the tank. We should’ve played a little harder in the second half,” said Portland junior Alex Martin. “That score does not say how good we are … Playoff football is always great, but to play Deering, that’s our rival so it’s even better. We know everyone on that team, so it’s fun.”

The top seed in Class A North, Portland (8-2) will face No. 3 Bangor (6-4) in the regional final next week. No. 4 Deering finishes at 4-6.

The Bulldogs led 28-0 at halftime, but first-year head coach Nick Cliche acknowledged his team had trouble keeping its emotions in check. The Bulldogs took three unsportsmanlike penalties.

“We had a ton of penalties, especially in the first half. It kept some drives going for them. For us to win a state championship, we have to be a more disciplined football team, and our guys know that. It’s hard when you’re playing a bunch of buddies,” Cliche said.

Portland scored on the game’s opening drive when quarterback Cordell Jones connected with Jake Johnson on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 5:23 left in the first quarter. A few minutes later, Martin recovered a Deering fumble and ran 53 yards untouched for a 14-0 lead.

“We teach first person get the tackle, second person go for the ball. I was the second one and just grabbed the ball,” Martin said.

Martin’s 17-yard touchdown run gave Portland a 21-0 lead late in the second quarter, and Jones (18 carries, 153 yards) scored on a 9-yard run with 22 seconds left in the first half.

Deering coach Brendan Scully said he stressed to his team all week that turnovers could be the difference. Along with the fumble for a Bulldogs touchdown, a Johnson interception in the end zone ended a Rams drive early in the second quarter.

“We played the way we planned on playing in the second half. They’re a good team, and you can’t make mistakes against a good team,” Scully said.

After a 34-0 loss to Portland in the regular season, Deering’s offense finally broke through when quarterback Jordan DiBiase ran for a 33-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. Jones added a 16-yard touchdown run for the Bulldogs, and Deering’s Zade Smith capped the scoring with a 5-yard run.

“We challenged them to come out in the second half and dominate, and we stepped back a little bit,” Cliche said.

Deering is in the unique position of having one more game despite the playoff loss. The Rams will face Portland for a third time this season in the annual Thanksgiving Day game in just under three weeks. Scully said the team will meet Monday, then players will get a little break while coaches work on the game plan.

“We’ll come back and do the game plan, then a couple, three days (of practice) the following week, and we’ll get full speed for the game probably the weekend and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday before it,” Scully said.

For the Bulldogs, that Thanksgiving game is on the backburner.

“One by one, day by day,” Martin said.