Nov. 17, 2018: Thornton Academy’s football team completes its first unbeaten season since 1986 with a lopsided 49-14 win against Portland High School in Maine’s Class A state championship game.

The 11-0 string of Trojans’ victories is all the more impressive because opposing teams never even held a temporary lead over Thornton in any game of the season.

In the championship game, senior Anthony Bracamonte scores four touchdowns, including one on a punt return and another on a 61-yard pass reception from quarterback Kobe Gaudette.

Anthony Bracamonte routinely made tacklers miss. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“We started this on Aug. 13 and we had this day marked on the calendar the whole season,” Bracamonte tells the Portland Press Herald after the game. “We practiced hard through the cold, through the rain. We worked hard every single second of it, so we deserve this.”

Thornton Academy is a private high school in Saco.

Joseph Owen is an author, retired newspaper editor and board member of the Kennebec Historical Society. Owen’s book, “This Day in Maine,” can be ordered at islandportpress.com. To get a signed copy use promo code signedbyjoe at checkout. Joe can be contacted at: jowen@mainetoday.com.