Winslow’s big plays beat Wells

loading...

GARDINER – In a game in which each team dominated a half, Winslow’s dominant half was better than Wells’… and that made all the difference.

Winslow’s offense gave the team a 14-point lead at the end of the first half, and its defense made it stand up in the second as the undefeated Black Raiders downed Wells 14-6 to win the Class B state championship here at muddy Hoch Field here Saturday.

The Black Raiders finished the season with a 12-0 record and their second state title under eight-year head coach Mike Siviski. Winslow won the single-A title in 1986.

Wells finishes its season at 8-3.

Winslow junior quarterback Marc Hachey was an easy choice as the game’s unoffical MVP.

Hachey scored one touchdowns and threw for the other. He completed two of four passes for 81 yards, and rushed six times for 88 yard to lead the offense.

Hachey scored the first touchdown off an option to the left on the first play of Winslow’s fourth offensive series. With 10 seconds left in the first quarter, he sprinted 83 yards down the sideline after faking to fullback Brad Vigue.

“The hole was all open there,” said Hachey. “They always key on Brad on that play, and it opens things up for me. It’s been a good play for us.”

Getting to the sidelines was half the battle as the turf was muddy and slippery at the middle of the field. A steady, fourth-quarter rain made footing even more unsteady.

Hachey hooked up on a 74-yard touchdown pass to Nate Poulin on second-and-22 with 37 seconds left in the first half. Facing a secondary spread out all to one side, Hachey found Poulin wide-open over the middle.

Poulin caught the pass about 15 yards beyound the line of scrimmage and raced virtually untouched into the end zone.

“We knew they spread out a lot like that and it was the perfect time to throw it,” Hachey said.

“We designed it this week in practice,” said Poulin. “We had trips (three wide receivers) on one side and double tights (tight ends) on the other, so the safeties would move over to the trip side.

“Then we’d just have me going down the middle and, hopefully, no one would be there. That was the first time we’ve used it all season.”

Winslow dominated the first half with 212 total yards, 131 rushing, while holding Wells to 46 yards, all on the ground.

“Both teams had great defenses and, simply put, those big plays were the difference in the game,” said Siviski.”

The second half was almost a complete turnaround. Using fake handoffs to freeze the defense, Wells began to seize some momentum with an 11-play, four-minute drive to the Winslow 31-yard line.

With 1:25 left in the third, Winslow’s bend-but-don’t-break defense stiffened and stuffed Wells on a fourth-and-10 rushing attempt to take over possession on its own 30.

The Warriors tallied 148 yards (112 rushing) in the second half and held the Raiders to 18 total yards – all on the ground.

Wells began its lone scoring drive with about eight minutes left in the game after Winslow was forced to punt from its own 12.

Wells’ scoring drive went 50 yards in eight plays. With 5:05 to play, senior tailback Ron Guptill (24 carries, 75 yards) capped the drive with a 22-yard TD run down the left sideline on fourth-and-two. The PAT kick veered wide left.

The Warriors sent another scare through the Winslow faithful when they again drove to the Winslow 22 with 35 seconds left, overcoming two penalties in the process.

The last-second comeback bid was foiled when senior linebacker Doug Peters intercepted Wells quarterback Tim Ryan’s pass at the Winslow 15, allowing the Raiders to run out the clock.

“After we got the lead, we were really protecting the lead and hoping that our defense would do it for us… and they did,” Siviski said.

“If we had another minute on the clock, maybe we could have gotten one in there. But we had to pass,” said Wells Coach Ed McDonough.

“But no excuses, Winslow’s a great football team and they deserve to be the state champs.”

Black Raiders 14, Warriors 6

Winslow 7 7 0 0 -14

Wells 0 0 0 6 -6

WIN – Hachey 83 run (I. Poulin kick)

WIN – N. Poulin 74 pass from Hachey (I. Poulin kick)

WEL – Guptill 22 run (kick failed)

Winslow Wells First downs 4 11 Rushing: att. – yards 28-149 48-158 Passing: att. – comp. 2-4 3-11 Yards passing 81 35 Total yards 230 194 Intercepted by 1 2 Punts – average 5-42.2 7-37.3 Fumbles – lost 1-1 2-1 Penalties – yards 4-30 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Winslow: Hachey 6-88, Vigue 11-54, Wentworth 6-6, Houston 3-1, Bourget 1-0; Wells: Guptill 24-75, Ryan 7-23, Chase 6-12, Thompson 11-48

PASSING – Winslow: Hachey 2-4-2-81; Wells: 3-11-1-35

RECEIVING – Winslow: N. Poulin 1-74, Peters 1-7; Wells: Chase 1-15, Landberg 1-15, Guptill 1-5