SACO — The Noble High football team nearly knocked off reigning Class A state champion Thornton Academy in the regular season.

Wrestling Class A South supremacy from the Golden Trojans in the postseason, however, proved a far stiffer challenge.

Top-seeded Thornton defended its regional title with emphasis, taking down No. 3 Noble, 57-29, in the South final Saturday afternoon. The Golden Trojans are headed to the state championship game for the sixth straight season, and will look to beat North champion Portland for their second straight title and third in four years.

Mauricio Sunderland (13 carries, 116 yards) scored three touchdowns for Thornton (9-2). Quarterback Wyatt Benoit ran 11 times for 90 yards and a score, Brennan Tabor rushed for two touchdowns, and Jackson Paradis had receiving and punt return touchdowns.

“Today, we came out with another mentality,” Paradis said. “It’s all or nothing, especially at Hill Stadium. I know for all the seniors, it was our last game here, we had to put on a show.”

Noble (8-3) gave Thornton everything it could handle in Week 5 of the regular season, but the Trojans escaped with a 33-26 win. It was a different story in the rematch, and Benoit said Thornton’s defensive was the biggest reason why.

“Definitely defensively,” he said. “Our defense has obviously improved a lot. … (Coach Kevin) Kezal, after that first game, was pretty hard on us.”

Jamier Rose led Noble with 130 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, but Thornton prevented Noble from finding much consistency on the ground.

“When we went down there, we played well at times, but we didn’t play hard for 48 minutes. That’s something we’ve stressed with our team as we’ve headed into playoffs,” Kezal said. “I think we just played more physical. We had a few adjustments here and there, but not a lot. We are what we are. We played more physical.”

It looked at first like the message hadn’t been received when Rose broke free for a 34-yard score on the opening drive, and again when he took off for a 53-yard touchdown that made it 14-14. Those TDs came in response to touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards by Thornton’s Tabor and Sunderland.

The Trojans, though, held Noble to three first downs over its next five possessions. Thornton scored 36 straight points for a 50-14 lead.

“We played much faster and quicker after those first couple of drives,” said Kezal, who credited defensive tackles Curtis Nason, Henry Mahoney, Jacob Fish and Jangmin Lee with fortifying Thornton’s interior defense.

Following Rose’s second touchdown, Tabor capped a 66-yard drive with a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal to put the Trojans back in front. Then came a big play on special teams. Paradis, who had already returned a punt 62 yards to set up Sunderland’s first touchdown, went 66 yards on his next opportunity, shaking a defender after making the catch and then running behind a blocker up the left side.

When Noble again had to punt on the next series, Thornton needed just three plays: a 9-yard run from Connor Ayoob (11 carries, 96 yards), a 30-yard run from Benoit, and a 2-yard run by Sunderland as the Trojans opened a 36-14 lead.

Sunderland added a 66-yard scoring run in the second half, Benoit hit Paradis for a 35-yard score, and Ayoob had a 45-yard run.

Rose connected on touchdown passes of 19 yards to Taivian Brown and 18 yards to Logan Duquette.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Kezal said. “The goal is to peak come playoffs, and I think the last two weeks, we’ve played really good football.”

Noble Coach Keenon Blindow said his team didn’t execute the way it did in October.

“We came out in the first quarter and were toe to toe with (them),” he said. “We had a couple of mistakes on special teams and that kind of spiraled out of control.”

Blindow did say this season, which resulted in Noble’s first trip to a regional final in 27 years, will serve the program well.

“It’s huge,” he said. “It’s brought the community together, and there’s a lot of excitement about football. Hopefully it sparks more interest and gets more kids out.”