Class A football

BRUNSWICK – You could see it in the way the fathers hugged their sons.

Mothers would offer pecks on the cheeks, girlfriends would be jumping up into their arms, and good friends would be offering congratulatory slaps on the back. But, when it came to the fathers, only then could you actually see it. After all, many of them – in another era – had been there themselves.

Pride is a very important word when it comes to Biddeford High School football. It is a major part of the winning tradition handed down from generation to generation, from fathers to sons.

Saturday at Bowdoin College’s Whittier Field here, Biddeford’s pride added another chapter to that winning tradition by claiming the school’s ninth state Class A championship.

Biddeford 36, Gardiner 15; a lot of Papa Tigers were proud after this one.

“You think of all the players that played before you and they’re the ones you’re playing for,” said Biddeford QB Chris Cote. “It’s just a great feeling to put on a Biddeford jersey every weekend and going out there to give it your best.”

On Saturday, Cote, who posted a 7-for-12, 164-yard passing effort, was at his best.

Playing behind a line which offered plenty of pass protection while also blowing Gardiner off the ball during the run plays, Cote fired three touchdown passes en route to the title.

The championship capped a 9-3 season for Biddeford. Gardiner had its dream of a perfect season end at 12-1.

None of Cote’s scoring passes were bigger than his second.

After Biddeford linebacker Casey Small snuffed out a Gardiner drive with an interception with 19 seconds left in the half and Biddeford up 15-7, most of the 5,000 fans in attendence expected Cote to down the ball and take a lead into the locker room.

Cote took the snap, dropped straight back, and tossed up a bomb which Biddeford end John Beaulieu caught on the run to complete a 67-yard scoring strike. Mean Thy’s point-after kick made the score 22-7 and Gardiner never fully recovered.

“I thought we were just going to kneel it and that would be the end of the half,” said senior center Jason Martel. “Chris came into the huddle and, honest truth, told us `Touchdown on this play.’ If anybody’s going to do it, Chris Cote is the man.”

“John Beaulieu brought in the play and I went into the huddle and said `Touchdown right here!”‘ Cote said shrugging it off with a sly smile. “They all looked at me surprised. It just happened that J.B. beat his defender, made the catch, and ran it in.”

Two plays into the team’s second second-half possesion, Cote Two plays into the team’s second second-half possesion, Cote hit Craig Pendergrass on a slant-in for a 27-yard TD, pushing the lead to 28-7.

While Gardiner bounced back on a Mark Ladner pass to Todd O’Connor (the pass was tipped first by Biddeford’s Duane Kopenga) for a 45-yarBiddeford’s defense proved it was still too little, too late.

While the talented Cote paced the offense along with senior fullback Bobby Guillerault (13 carries, 70 yards) and sophomore halfback Keith Grenier (17 carries, 69 yards), the Western Maine champion Tigers’ defense shut down a usually potent Gardiner run game.

Senior tailback Chris Whalen, who led the Pine Tree Conference in rushing with 1,200-plus yards, finished the day with 70 yards on 15 carries. One of those was for 42 yards, however, leaving him with 38 yards on his other 14 carries. Quarterback Mark Ladner added 57 yards rushing, but was sacked three times.

“From what we heard, they were a big running team,” said Martel, who recorded one sack and 10 tackles. “Our main object was to stop (Whalen). When their quarterback started running the ball, we started to key on him, also. The main thing was to contain. Once we kept them inside all our big guys piled on.”

The Tigers had taken a 7-0 lead when, on a fourth-and-one, Whalen dove high above the scrimmage line pig-pile and into the end zone.

Biddeford bounced back when Cote hit Grenier for a 27-yard scoring pass 11 seconds into the second. A pass to Pendergrass gave the Tigers two more points, giving them an 8-7 lead.

After Reuben Sevigny scored the first of his two touchdown runs to make it 15-7, Cote finished off the Tigers with his end-of-the-first-half bomb.

Biddeford 36, Gardiner 15

Biddeford 0 22 6 8 -36

Gardiner 7 0 8 0 -15

G – C. Whalen 1 run (O’Connor kick)

B – Grenier 27 pass from Cote (Pendergrass pass from Cote)

B – Sevigny 3 run (Thy kick)

B – Beaulieu 67 pass from Cote (Thy kick)

B – Pendergrass 27 pass from Cote (kick failed)

G – O’Connor 45 pass from Ladner (Ladner rush)

B – Sevigny 8 run (Suillerault rush)

Biddeford Gardiner First downs 13 9 Rushing: att. – yards 45-186 34-131 Passing: att. – comp. 13-7 13-7 Yards passing 164 80 Total yards 350 211 Intercepted by 1 1 Punts – average 2-39.5 3-27.7 Fumbles – lost 1-0 1-1 Penalties – yards 5-37 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Biddeford: Guillerault 13-70, Grenier 17-69, Sevigny 7-35, Cote 7-8, G. Beaulieu 1-4; Gardiner: C. Whalen 15-70, Ladner 17-57, N. Whalen 1-3, Rado 1-1.

PASSING – Biddeford: Cote 7-12-1-164, Ruel 0-1-0-0; Gar diner: Ladner 7-13-1-80.

RECEIVING – Biddeford: J. Beaulieu 1-67, Grenier 2-49, Pendergrass 2-40, G. Beaulieu 1-10, Guillerault 1-(minus 2); Gardiner: O’Connor 1-45, C. Whalen 1-15, N. Whalen 2-14, Dodson 3-6.