Bangor, Winslow, Bucksport seeking state crowns today

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After an indeterminate number of hours, 68 practices, eight regular season games, four playoff games, a scrimmage, and an exhibition game, it all comes down to this.

Championship Saturday: Six teams, three games, three gold balls.

One game features a second chance for one team and a first in almost 20 years for the other, another features a rematch, and the final is a showcase for new blood.

The unbeaten Bangor Rams will try and win their 12th game and first state crown since 1979 with a return trip to the Class A game after falling five points short last season. They’ll take on a 10-1 Portland team trying to bring home the school’s first gold ball since 1982 and third in the last 50 years.

In Class B, unbeaten (11-0) Winslow is trying to extend a 22-game win streak and win its second straight state title against 10-1 York, which fell to the Raiders in last year’s state final.

Class C matches up traditional powers who have been away from state finals for awhile. East champ Bucksport (10-1) makes its first state final appearance in 13 years, and is gunning for its first state crown since 1983. The 9-2 Boothbay Seahawks, who have yet to mine gold in this game, are making their first title appearance since 1998.

Class A – The presence of an all-state, blue-chip, division I scholarship quarterback (Boston College freshman Quinton Porter) wasn’t enough to get the Portland Bulldogs into a state final, but this year’s young squad of non-household names has done the job.

“Last year we had a high profile player everyone keyed in on,” said Portland coach Mike Bailey. This year, we have no big names. They just kind of developed themselves as they went.”

One thing needing no development was the ‘Dogs defense as they returned eight starters from the Southern Maine Activities Association’s top-ranked unit last year. This year, they again finished No. 1 as they’ve given up 78 points (42 by the first string), grabbed what’s believed by coaches to be an SMAA-record 27 interceptions, and posted four shutouts.

“I think they’re very, very strong defensively and we’re going to have to pick and choose where we throw the ball with good reads and good running,” said Rams coach Mark Hackett. “We’re gonna run our whole offense and make them honor everything.”

The leaders of this imposing 5-2 defense are middle linebackers Will Hews (82 tackles) and Josh Doughty (107, five sacks). Strong safety Mike Duperre and defensive end Marty O’Brion lead the team with eight picks and seven sacks, respectively.

“We knew defense would carry us early on while our offense matured,” Bailey said.

Offensively, junior tailback Carl Frye has accounted for 1,272 yards and 12 touchdowns on 197 carries out of the I-formation while Doughty and quarterback Keith Derrig have combined for 505 and 10 TDs on 157 carries. After throwing seven interceptions in his first four games, Derrig has been near-flawless as he’s completed 51 of 93 passes for 800 yards and 14 TDs this year. His favorite target is flanker Nick Nappi, who has 19 catches for 394 yards and seven TDs. Hews is a tough assignment at tight end with 278 yards and six TDs on 17 catches.

Class B – Ever since an error-plagued effort ended with a 29-7 loss in last year’s state game, York has been fixated on this game.

“We made too many mistakes,” said coach Randy Small. “Now we have a second chance.”

With eight starters back on both sides of the ball, the Wildcats have lots of experience and motivation.

They also have plenty of talent with senior tailback Nate Schoff, who came back from an early injury to gain 950 yards in eight games, fullback Sean Bradburn (100 yards last week), quarterback Chris Kiernan (1,400 passing yards, 25 TDs), and tight end Abe Zacharias (600 yards, nine TDs).

Despite their record, the ‘Cats weren’t very happy after suffering a 23-7 loss to Belfast in week three.

“That was an absolute wakeup call. The kids were reading their headlines and thought they had everything already sewn up,” said Small. “It was about a month of hell after that. We challenged them and they answered the challenge.”

After that game, several leaders emerged, including Kiernan, Mike Cicero, Adam Kilgore and Ben Niberg, who was made the team’s sixth captain halfway through the season for his efforts – something Small has never done before.

The athletic Wildcats use an I-formation on offense and a 4-4 defensive alignment.

Class C – The Seahawks have no state game experience – save Billy Hardwick’s stint on last March’s state championship basketball team – while the Golden Bucks’ playoff football experience consists of their last two games.

When scouting Boothbay, one thing ran over and over in Bucks coach Joel Sankey’s head.

“They’re very, very big,” Sankey said. “They’re big in the lines and fullback. They have seven men on the line with two wings and a fullback. Nobody really compares to them.”

They’re also young with just three seniors starting on each side of the line. So young, in fact, that head coach Tim Rice jokes about his team’s growing pains and the toll they’ve taken.

“I’m 39 and I’m still getting gray hairs,” Rice said with a laugh. “Our defense took such a long time coming of age, we had to outscore teams from the start.”

That’s exactly what they did, scoring 206 points in their first six games while giving up 115 and forging a 5-1 record.

Boothbay’s wing-T offense is balanced as three running backs have 700 yards or more and quarterback Will Carroll has completed 37 of 60 passes for 750 yards and 12 TDs. The backs are Taylor Russell (825 yards, 14 TDs), Max Arsenault (800, 12 TDs), and Alex Rand (710, eight). Carroll has another 180 yards rushing. Hardwick is Carroll’s prime target with 25 catches for 300 yards and nine TDs. Tim Pinkham, the other tight end, has 10 catches for 150 yards and three TDs.

The shaky Seahawk 4-4 defense isn’t as shaky anymore, allowing 46 points in their last three games.