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WINSLOW – After watching Belfast slap 14 points on them in the space of three minutes and tie the game, the members of Winslow’s football team had a bad case of dTja vu.
After all, it was almost a year ago to the day that Winslow took a 15-0 lead only to watch the Lions roar back with 26 unanswered points for their fifth straight playoff win over the Black Raiders.
The LTC Class B championship game script appeared to be rewriting itself on a sunny, almost-summery Saturday afternoon. Winslow jumped out to another commanding early lead – this time 20-0 in the first quarter, thanks to two Belfast turnovers – before the Lions scored 20 in the next two quarters to tie it up.
This time, however, Winslow took a sheet from Belfast’s championship playbook, using the experience and veteran leadership of a solid group of senior starters to recover their wits, blunt Belfast’s momentum, and put together a late, game-winning drive en route to a thrilling 27-20 victory before a packed Poulin Stadium crowd.
“We just kept telling each other ‘Every play is a gut drill. Just give it all every play and don’t leave anything on the field,’ ” said Winslow two-way tackle Johnnathan McCaslin. “We talked about it all week. We seniors weren’t gonna lose our last game on our home field.”
Winslow, now 10-1, will play 9-2 West champ York at 1 p.m. next Saturday on Cony’s Alumni Field in Augusta for the “B” state crown.
The winning drive began with 10:39 left to play, just after the Raiders’ defense forced the Lions to punt after a five-yard run, two penalties, and two incompletions.
After standout tailback-safety Chris McCabe returned the kick 14 yards to the Belfast 38-yard line, he and fellow tailback Ricky Vigue combined to drive 36 yards in nine plays – all runs. With 6:01 left, senior fullback Brad Carey took a third-and-goal handoff and bull-rushed forward off right tackle for a two-yard touchdown run.
“We were under pressure and we needed to get that one. I told myself ‘I’m getting in that end zone’ and I wasn’t going to stop pumping my legs,” said Carey.
Jerod LePage’s PAT kick – the only one attempted in the game – went through the uprights to give the Raiders a seven-point cushion. After McCaslin’s kickoff and a five-yard return, victory was five minutes and 55 seconds away for Winslow. Overtime or victory was 80 yards away for Belfast.
The option attack led by Lions senior quarterback Ben Morley and sophomore tailback Jeff Parenteau then took over as the Lions grabbed two first downs and 30 yards on their next eight plays.
A disputed illegal receiver penalty wiped out a 14-yard pass from Morley to Josh Pooler and pushed Belfast back to the B-45 with 53 seconds left, but mercurial flanker Colby Horne burst 23 yards on a reverse to the right side for another first down with 44 seconds to play. Another Horne reverse to the left netted four more yards, but McCaslin got them back for Winslow with a big sack of Morley.
Following a Lions’ false start penalty, Belfast had three seconds. Time enough for one more play. Morley faded back on 3rd-and-15 from the W-37 and looked for an open receiver. Morley rolled right under pressure, stepped up and tried to hit Horne on the left side, but McCabe burst up in front of Horne, picked off the pass, and returned it 64 yards as time ran out and Raiders players and coaches spilled onto the field in wild celebration.
“We tried to keep our heads up and we knew we had to pour a lot of heart into it if we wanted to come out on top,” said McCabe. “Ever since our game with them last year, we’ve been thinking about getting back to this game and going on to states. This is just a great feeling.”
McCabe was Mr. MVP with 137 yards and two TDs on 30 carries. Vigue gained 135 yards on 19 carries, the biggest of which was a 53-yard counter to set up QB Chris Langlais’ one-yard TD run to make it 20-0 late in the first quarter.
Winslow’s backs deflected the credit to offensive linemen Caleb Morin (center), Shawn Roy and Cory Fogg (guards), and McCaslin and Chris Marcoux (tackles).
“We had huge holes today,” Vigue said. “That was the best game I’ve ever seen them play.”
Coach Butch Arthers, whose Lions wind up 9-2, concurred.
“We prepared all week for a wide-open game with them because they’ve got a thousand formations,” Arthers said. “They came out and played smash-mouth football with what was almost like an eight-man front. And with big number 77 [McCaslin] in there, it was very effective for them.”
Horne (117 yards on five carries) almost single-handedly beat Winslow with two TDs on runs of 36 and 51 yards. Parenteau finished with 111 yards.
“Our game plan was simply to keep their offense off the field,” said Winslow coach Mike Siviski. “We had to keep Horne and Parenteau and Morley contained. We knew we wouldn’t stop ’em and ultimately I guess we did all right.”
Pooler scored Belfast’s game-tying TD with a 34-yard run early in the third quarter – almost three minutes after Horne’s 51-yarder.
Black Raiders 27, Lions 20
Belfast (9-2) 0 6 14 0 – 20
Winslow (10-1) 20 0 0 7 – 27
W – McCabe 6 run (pass failed)
W – McCabe 3 run (Vigue rush)
W – Langlais 1 run (pass failed)
B – Horne 36 run (rush failed)
B – Horne 51 run (Parenteau rush)
B – Pooler 34 run (rush failed)
W – Carey 2 run (LePage kick)
No. 2 Belfast No. 1 Winslow
First downs 11 15 Rushing att. – yds 33-290 56-326 Passing cmp. – att. 1-7 0-3 Yards passing 26 0 Total yards 316 326 Intercepted by 0 1 Punts – avg. 3-33.3 3-29.3 Fumbles – lost 3-2 2-0 Penalties – yds 8-50 2-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Belfast: Horne 5-117, Parenteau 14-111, Pooler 3-41, Morley 10-19, Welch 1-2; Winslow: McCabe 30-137, Vigue 19-135, Carey 4-44, LePage 1-7, Langlis 2-3
PASSING – Belfast: Morley 1-7-1-26; Winslow: Langlais 0-3-0-0
RECEIVING – Belfast: Pooler 1-26; Winslow: none
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