BREWER – Josh Caldwell didn’t think much of the 26-yard run he reeled off in the third quarter of Friday night’s high school football matchup between Brewer and Mattanawcook.

“It was a play up the middle. That’s all I can remember,” he said. “It was a guard trap up the middle. I just broke it off. Pretty decent gain.”

Little did the Witches know, it would be a pretty key gain. Caldwell’s run set up the winning touchdown, which Brewer needed to withstand a fourth-quarter rally by the Lynx of Lincoln.

Caldwell ended up with 154 yards on the ground and scored all three Brewer touchdowns as the Witches held off Mattanawcook 19-14 at a crowded Doyle Field. It was the season opener for both teams.

Although Brewer is a Class B team and Mattanawcook is a Class C squad, both teams are early playoff contenders and were looking at the game as a good test.

“Brewer’s a great team and they’re gonna be good this year. The goal was to get better and learn something and I think we did,” said Lynx captain Jon Carney, who caught two touchdown passes among his 99 receiving yards.

Carney and quarterback Dustin Hanscom made a game of it in the fourth quarter. The Lynx were down 19-0 and had trouble moving the ball earlier in the game, but Hanscom took to the air.

The Lynx were driving in Brewer territory at the start of the fourth quarter when a Hanscom pass was intercepted by Brewer’s Scott Hatch. But two Brewer plays later, the Witches fumbled and MA’s Tom Lasko took the loose ball to the Brewer 19-yard line. On the following play Hanscom threw to an open Carney in the end zone. The two hooked up again for the two-point conversion.

Mattanawcook’s next possession was a drive from the M-4 to the B-10, during which Hanscom went 6-for-9. He threw a 10-yard pass to Carney for the Lynx’s second score with 2:56 left.

“I think our line really buckled down and we really got to see some open field,” Carney said. “We changed some patterns that we had been running earlier in the game. The backfield really blocked well, too.”

Brewer held the ball for the rest of the game despite fumbling and committing two penalties.

Caldwell looked very sharp early, rushing for 94 yards on 15 carries and scoring on touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards in the first half. His 26-yarder in the third quarter got the Witches to the M-12, and four plays later he scored on a 2-yard run.

The senior fullback impressed Brewer coach Josh Emmett.

“I think Josh Caldwell is a heck of a football player,” he said. “He’s one tough football player and I think everyone ought to know that.”

The game started about 30 minutes late because of trouble with the lights at Doyle Field.

WITCHES 19, LYNX 14

Mattanawcook (0-1) 0 0 0 14?14

Brewer (1-0) 6 7 6 0?19

B ? Caldwell 1 rush (kick failed)

B ? Caldwell 4 rush (Sutherland kick)

B ? Caldwell 2 rush (pass failed)

M ? Carney 19 pass from Hanscom (Hanscom pass to Carney)

M ? Carney 10 pass from Hanscom (pass failed)

Mattanawcook Brewer

First downs 9 11

Rushing att.-yards 23-88 50-303

Passing comp.-att. 14-24 0-4

Passing yards 182 0

Total yards 270 303

Punts-avg. 5-30.8 4-24

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-4

Intercepted by 2 1

Penalties-yards 9-45 5-35

Rushing

Mattanawcook: Gardner 16-67, Hanscom 4-17, Kyes 3-4; Brewer: Caldwell 24-154, Rancourt 12-64, Emerson 2-64, C. Fox 7-15, Trask 3-8, Collins 2-(minus-2)

Passing

Mattanawcook: Hanscom 14-24-2-182; Brewer: Collins 0-2-0-0, Rancourt 0-1-1-0, D. Fox 0-1-0-0

Receiving

Mattanawcook: Carney 8-99, Kyes 4-36, McKinnon 1-33, Ireland 1-14; Brewer: none

A?1,500 (est.)