BELFAST – A well-balanced offensive and a devastating defensive effort – both of which were led by the same player – kept the Winslow Black Raiders unbeaten and in the Pine Tree Conference Class B driver’s seat.

The Black Raiders made a key stop on the road to the top seeding and home field advantage throughout the PTC playoffs by visiting top rival Belfast Friday night and knocking off the defending Eastern Maine champs 28-14.

Senior fullback and defensive end Derek Runnells iced the game with a two-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left and finished with 100 yards on 20 carries.

Winslow’s skilled offensive line of center Nick Souviney, guards Derek Rancourt and Ken Browning, tackles Chris Desrosiers and Justin Shorey, and tight end Ben McPherson paved the way for 219 yards and a 4.7 yards-per-carry average.

“This is the best line I’ve ever run behind. They’ve really come along the last year,” Runnells said.

Winslow’s defensive front isn’t too shabby either as the Black Raiders left Belfast quarterback Nick Arthers, who was returning to action after suffering a shoulder injury, little breathing room.

“I talked to him after and he looked to me like he was about 80 percent,” said Lions co-coach Butch Arthers, Nick’s father. “He didn’t run the ball like he could tonight and some of that had to do with the pressure from the sides.”

The Black Raiders sacked Arthers seven times for minus 30 yards and held him to 35 total yards.

“We didn’t give him time to throw … We did a fairly good job on them by handling Arthers back there,” said head coach Mike Siviski, whose Raiders go to 7-0 with a game against second-place Brewer next week.

Runnells led the defensive charge along with Shorey with three sacks apiece. Two came just seconds after two fumbles were recovered by Belfast.

The first helped snuff out a big chance for Belfast to take a 14-0 lead after the Lions recovered the ball at the W-25 four minutes into the first quarter. After a five-yard run, Winslow tackled Arthers for a one-yard loss on a run play before Runnells sacked him for a three-yard loss. Arthers’ fourth-down pass was incomplete and the Raiders dodged a big bullet.

“I think that was a big turning point. I was pretty angry after both of my fumbles, so I kind of used that as motivation,” Runnells said.

Evidently the second fumble was even more upsetting because the senior tri-captain followed it up with two straight tackles and a sack for a five-yard loss.

As solid as it was, Winslow’s defense couldn’t keep all Belfast’s guns in the holster as tailback Josh Aldus ran for two TD’s and 120 yards on 13 carries.

The 5-2 Lions tightened things up right after halftime as Aldus capped a quick, 58-yard drive with a 16-yard TD run to the right side. The two-point conversion rush failed, but the score was 20-14 Winslow.

After that, defense took over. Just as Winslow was poised to deliver the fatal blow two minutes into the fourth quarter, Garren Horne tipped a Josh LaPointe (5-for-7 for 100 yards) pass into the end zone to teammate Patrick Thomas, who intercepted it and ran it back 25 yards to keep the Lions close and thwart a seven-play, four-minute Raider drive.

Belfast put up 220 total yards to Winslow’s 319.

“I think that they did some things differently than what our kids have seen and we struggled with that in the first half,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Richards.

BLACK RAIDERS 28, LIONS 14

Winslow (7-0) 8 12 0 8 ? 28

Belfast (5-2) 8 0 6 0 ? 14

B ? Aldus 46 run (Aldus rush)

W ? Runnells 34 run (Lopez from LaPointe)

W ? LaPointe 1 run (rush failed)

W ? Lopez 5 pass from LaPointe (kick failed)

B ? Aldus 16 run (rush failed)

W ? Runnells 2 run (Runnells rush)

Winslow Belfast

First downs 13 5

Rushing att.-yards 47-219 30-156

Passing comp.-att. 5-7 3-9

Passing yards 100 64

Total yards 319 220

Punts-avg. 3-16.7 5-26.8

Fumbles-lost 4-2 0-0

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 7-55 4-35

Rushing

Winslow: Runnells 21-100, McCaslin 10-53, Millett 11-52, Nelson 2-17, LaPointe 3-(-3); Belfast: Aldus 13-120, Herman 5-65, Horne 2-0, Arthers 10-(-29)

Passing

Winslow: LaPointe 5-7-1-100; Belfast: Arthers 3-9-0-64

Receiving

Winslow: Lopez 4-80, Nelson 1-20; Belfast: Horne 1-55, Cole 1-6, Gallant 1-3

A? 3,000 (est.)