Moncton Mustangs defensive back Israel Ilunga returns one of his three interceptions during the Maritime Football League final against the Saint John Wanderers on Saturday in Saint John. PHOTO: David Chapman

The Maritime Football League championship has returned to Moncton.

The Moncton Mustangs held off the rival Saint John Wanderers 34-27 in the Maritime Bowl league final on the road on Saturday night.

The victory gave the Mustangs their second MFL title in three years and avenged last year's 42-23 loss to the Wanderers in the championship game.

The powerhouse teams met in the league final for the fourth consecutive year, with Moncton also winning in 2017.

The Mustangs lost to the Wanderers in the opening week of the regular season, but never lost again.

They reeled off seven straight wins and beat Saint John twice in a span of three weeks, including in Saturday's title game on the road.

They were determined to not let the championship slip away this time.

"After we lost in the final last year after going undefeated, there was nothing we wanted more than to win the championship," said Moncton head coach Jason Terris.

"To be the champions of our league is something our coaching staff and our players have worked tirelessly on since the last championship game on June 22nd, 2018.

"We work really hard in practice. We had extra practices, extra film sessions, and we did all we could to ensure we were as prepared as possible."

Turnovers were a huge story in Saturday's game. The Mustangs forced eight turnovers, including three interceptions apiece by Israel Ilunga and Chris Brown.

Moncton was leading 10-7 in the second quarter when it received back-to-back big plays from its defence.

First, Ilunga returned an interception 64 yards to the end zone for a score.

Not long after that, Brown picked off another Saint John pass and returned it 50 yards for a major - and a 17-point Mustangs lead at halftime.

Ilunga finished with three interceptions - totalling 112 return yards - and added 2.5 tackles and one fumble recovery. He was chosen the game's most valuable player.

Brown posted three tackles to go with his three interceptions, and was named the game's defensive MVP.

"Our defence started the game on fire. We brought a lot of pressure, we got to the quarterback and we forced them to make a lot of mistakes. We've got some fantastic defensive backs who were able to get the ball when our defensive line forced (Saint John) to get rid of it," Terris said.

"Our whole defence played as a huge cohesive unit. It's been a long time since I've seen a defence execute so well. Scoring those two touchdowns was huge and a big momentum shift for us."

The clubs exchanged third-quarter touchdowns - with the Wanderers' Nick Bynkoski tossing an 18-yard strike to Joel Seale, and Mustangs QB Dan Comfort countering with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Leslie Greene - as Moncton took a 31-13 lead into the final quarter.

Ben George kicked a 36-yard field goal, his second of the night, to push the Mustangs' lead to 21 points, but the defending champion Wanderers still had a lot of fight left.

Bynkoski scored on a five-yard run and later hooked up with Daniel Bell on a 60-yard touchdown pass to bring Saint John within 34-27 with 59 seconds left on the clock.

The comeback ended there.

The Mustangs recovered the Wanderers' onside kick, and ran out the clock, before celebrating another Maritime championship.

After Moncton opened the scoring on a 47-yard field goal by George, Evan Arnold caught a 19-yard TD pass from quarterback Sean Galbraith to pull Saint John in front 7-3. The Mustangs took the lead back later in the first quarter on quarterback Brady Newcomb's 20-yard touchdown pass to Greene, and the visitors never relinquished the lead.

Greene caught three passes for 72 yards and two scores for the winners.

Alec Pellerin tallied nine tackles, including two for a loss, and four sacks, Kam Bell also had nine tackles and Jerome Tshimpangila contributed 8.5 tackles and one interception for Moncton.

"The cliché is defence wins championships, and that really spoke loud and clear," said Terris. "From our defensive line to our linebackers to our defensive backs, everybody showed up to win a championship, and they played like champions."