BREWER – The Brewer Witches had played nearly flawless football for 31/2 quarters, but suddenly momentum was lost, the result of a bad punt snap that Belfast turned into a touchdown to draw within two points with 1:28 to play.

A successful extra-point rush, and the game was headed for overtime.

“That’s all we said, that this was the game right here, and we had to stop them,” said Brewer quarterback and linebacker Court Rancourt.

Belfast turned to its playmaker, junior tailback Josh Aldus, who gained 192 yards on 28 carries and had just scored a touchdown from 2 yards out. But this time the interior of the Brewer defense held, denying the two-point conversion rush and preserving a 14-12 Pine Tree Conference football victory Friday night at Doyle Field.

“We thought about running wide or going with the pass,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Arthers. “But we had really been knocking them up the middle, so we decided to go that way. I don’t know how much we missed by, but it wasn’t much.”

This game was as even as the final score suggests, with Brewer outgaining Belfast 271-268 in total yardage while Belfast had a 17-13 edge in first downs.

Three Belfast turnovers – all in Brewer territory – were the ultimate difference, as Brewer’s defense proved resilient against a Lions’ offense that had averaged 57 points a game while opening the season with four straight lopsided victories.

“They kept putting the ball down, which surprised me,” said Brewer coach Ed Ortego. “I liked the way we hit, but I didn’t like the way we wrapped up, and 26 [Aldus] is a super back.

“But Belfast always is going to have a good team. Any win over them is a good win.”

Brewer mounted a balanced offense out of its option attack, with Ricky Porter (eight carries, 75 rushing yards), Rancourt (16-52) and Chris Noyes (13-43) all finding occasional seams in the Belfast defense.

“I think the key was our inability to stop them down the stretch,” Arthers said. “We made a few adjustments at halftime that worked for us, but we weren’t able to stop them as much as we needed.”

Brewer (3-1) scored the first two times it had the ball for a 14-0 lead. The Witches drove 70 yards in seven plays to strike first on a 23-yard run by Porter with 6:09 left in the opening quarter. A 41-yard pass from Rancourt to Andy Frost – who left the game in the second quarter with a slight concussion – set up the score.

A fumble by Belfast quarterback Andy Whalen – starting for the second straight week for the injured Nick Arthers – at the Brewer 16 stalled a Lions’ drive.

Brewer then marched 84 yards, with Rancourt passing to Porter for 42 yards and then sneaking into the end zone from 1 yard out with 8:33 left in the first half. Kevin McAvoy’s second straight extra-point kick made it 14-0.

Belfast took the ensuing kickoff and drove 68 yards. Aldus had 48 yards on the march, capped off when fullback Paul Herman scored from 8 yards out on a fourth-and-1 play. The center snap on the extra-point bid was mishandled, and Belfast was within 14-6 with 4:32 left in the half.

Belfast controlled much of the second half, holding Brewer to 75 total yards, but turnovers killed the defending Eastern Maine Class B champs.

After the Lions’ Josh Gallant and Ronnie Moore stuffed Noyes for no gain on fourth-and-2 from the Belfast 23, Belfast marched into Brewer territory before Whalen fumbled and Noyes recovered at the 41.

On its next possession, Belfast drove to the Brewer 15 before Aldus was stripped of the ball and Brewer’s Chris Fox recovered.

“We knew Belfast was a good team, we knew they didn’t have their quarterback, and it was on our field,” Ortego said. “There were a lot of things working our way, and we did what we had to do.”

WITCHES 14, LIONS 12

Belfast (4-1) 0 6 0 6 ? 12

Brewer (3-1) 7 7 0 0 ? 14

BREW ? Porter 23 run (McAvoy kick)

BREW ? Rancourt 1 run (McAvoy kick)

BELF ? Herman 8 run (rush failed)

BELF ? Aldus 2 run (rush failed)

Belfast Brewer

First downs 17 13

Rushing att.-yards 46-238 45-166

Passing comp.-att. 3-10 3-7

Passing yards 30 105

Total yards 268 271

Punts-avg. 2-37.5 3-27.7

Fumbles-lost 6-3 0-0

Intercepted by 0 0

Penalties-yards 7-41 4-29

Rushing

Belfast: Aldus 28-192, Herman 6-25, Whalen 9-13, Horne 3-8; Brewer: Porter 8-75, Rancourt 16-52, Noyes 13-43, Schwarze 4-13, Littlefield 2-12, Frost 1-4, McAvoy 1-(-33)

Passing

Belfast: Whalen 2-9-0-27, Horne 1-1-0-3; Brewer: Rancourt 3-7-0-105

Receiving

Belfast: Cole 1-15, Horne 1-12, Aldus 1-3; Brewer: Porter 1-42, Frost 1-41, Hardy 1-22

A? 900 (est.)