BELFAST – School usually is all about learning lessons. But when the Belfast High football players were reminded Saturday of the pain associated with reaching last year’s regional final only to fall short, they opted to give a lesson – in defense.

The unbeaten Lions never allowed Leavitt beyond midfield and held the Hornets to three first downs and 64 total yards in grinding out a 12-0 victory to win the Eastern Maine Class B championship.

The win sends Belfast (11-0) to next Saturday’s state title game at Augusta against Scarborough, a 12-7 winner over Mountain Valley in the Western B final.

“The defensive effort was just extraordinary,” said Belfast senior quarterback-defensive back John Lear, who rushed for a touchdown and ended the game with an interception of Leavitt quarterback Ben Berube, one of three turnovers forced by the Lions.

“What it came down to was that Leavitt’s offense was a power offense, but they try to get the defense’s mind off that by running some fancy stuff outside. We were able to stop the stuff outside and the stuff inside.”

The emotional stage may have been set just before the Lions took the field in search of their first Eastern Maine title since 1999. Belfast had reached the final each of the last two years only to lose to Winslow, and a letter from 2001 captain Colby Horne that was read to the team reinforced the frustration of finishing second-best.

“With the letter there was a picture of the three captains – sweat, blood, tears and their three hands are holding up the runner-up plaque,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Arthers. “We said, ‘Fellas, these boys deserved it just as much as you did, and this is how bad they felt afterward. If you don’t want this feeling, you’ve got to take care of business.'”

Belfast responded with a dominant performance of defense and ball control. The Lions rushed for 236 yards, 138 on 25 carries by senior halfback Jeff Parenteau.

Leavitt (7-4) of Turner tried to establish fullback Chad Dyer early, he managed only 35 yards on nine carries. Leavitt’s aerial game was equally negated, with Berube limited to 3 of 12 passing for 7 yards with two interceptions, by Lear and senior defensive back Jay Ames.

“The first half we stayed pretty conservative because we didn’t have real good field position,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “We had a couple of penalties get us in some holes and we just tried not to make mistakes. The second half we tried to open it up a little, but they’re definitely the best defensive team we’ve played this year.”

Belfast took a 6-0 lead on its second possession as Lear scored on an 11-yard keeper to cap a seven-play, 54-yard drive.

But two other trips inside the Leavitt-10 before intermission yielded nothing. First, senior fullback Matt Welch was tripped up by Leavitt defensive end Jake Signer just short of the goal line on a fourth-and-goal screen pass from the 5. Late in the half, the Lions marched from their 21 to the Leavitt-9 before Parenteau was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-2.

“We weren’t really frustrated, because it showed we could drive on them,” said Parenteau. “It gave us confidence that once we got into the red zone again, we could score. Just one block every time was all we needed, and we finally got it.”

That one block came from senior guard Ian Dutch midway through the third quarter, one play after Belfast’s defense rose to hold Leavitt’s Chad Schrepper short of a first down on a fourth-down play near midfield.

On first down, Dutch made the pivotal trap block that opened a gaping hole in the middle of the line, a pathway from heaven for Parenteau, who raced untouched 46 yards to the end zone to give Belfast a 12-0 lead with 7:37 left in the period.

“It was a trap play, pulling a guard and trapping a tackle,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Richards. “We had run it earlier and had one person we hadn’t accounted for. We said, ‘Jeez, that play’s there if we can just account for that one person,’ and on that play we did. Once we got the trap block there was no one there.”

From there it was left to the Belfast defense to finish the job it started. Junior linebacker Nick Arthers stripped the ball from Schrepper on Leavitt’s next possession, and when Schrepper intercepted a Lear pass – Belfast’s only turnover – with less than two minutes to play, the Lions responded immediately as defensive end Jackie Morse pressured Berube into an interception by Lear.

And the celebration of the moment replaced the disappointment of the past.

“We have some guys who have played in these games before and felt the pain, but not as much as the seniors on those teams did,” Lear said. “Before the game we had [Colby’s] letter that expressed his pain and we looked at the pictures of the seniors, all teary-eyed. We made sure we weren’t going to be teary-eyed again.”

LIONS 12, HORNETS 0

Leavitt (7-4) 0 0 0 0 ? 0

Belfast (11-0) 6 0 6 0 ? 12

B ? Lear 11 run (pass failed)

B ? Parenteau 46 run (pass failed)

Leavitt Belfast

First downs 3 13

Rushing att.-yards 25-57 53-236

Passing comp.-att. 3-12 3-8

Passing yards 7 19

Total yards 64 255

Punts-avg. 5-34.3 3-25.3

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Intercepted by 1 2

Penalties-yards 6-60 6-40

Rushing

Leavitt: Dyer 9-35, Schrepper 6-27, Hill 2-3, Brewer 2-1, Hardacker 2-(minus 2), Berube 4-(minus 7); Belfast: Parenteau 25-138, Lear 16-69, Horne 3-18, Welch 3-5, Arthers 1-5, Ames 2-1

Passing

Leavitt: Berube 3-12-2-7; Belfast: Lear 3-7-1-19, Arthers 0-1-0-0

Receiving

Leavitt: Schrepper 2-7, Dyer 1-0; Belfast: Welch 2-13, Ames 1-6

A?1,000 (est.)