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PORTLAND – His team was comfortably ahead by 14 points with seven minutes to play, but Tim Morley wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet.
Belfast’s senior wingback was stalking up and down the Lions sideline, reminding his teammates not to get complacent and to stay focused against Gorham Saturday night in the state Class B football championship game.
“I am NOT leaving this field without that gold ball!” Morley bellowed. “It’s coming back with us.”
An hour or so later, the gold ball trophy was indeed being carried off the field by the jubilant Belfast Lions after the two-time Eastern Maine champs defeated Gorham 28-16 on a crisp, pleasant late November night at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
The 9-2 Lions won their third state crown in the last eight years. Gorham wound up 8-3.
Morley’s intensity – and that of all his fellow seniors on the team – was understandable, considering they had played in the same game on the same field a year earlier and watched their 12-0 third quarter lead turn into a crushing 14-12 defeat keyed by a fourth down stuff of a Lions rush at the 1-yard line with 88 seconds left.
“That loss really put a lot on us. I really learned a lot from it and it kept us pumped all through the season,” said Josh Aldus, who learned to play his position by watching and listening to 5,000-yard career rusher Jeff Parenteau last year.
Aldus proved to be an apt pupil as he capped a 1,000-yard season by carrying the ball 19 times for 122 yards Saturday and helping lead the Lions past the Rams. Belfast rushed for 290 yards thanks to solid blocking by center Nick Thomann, tackles Ronnie Morse and Jason Wilkie, and guards Scott Hopkins and Chris Hubbard.
Even when Thomann suffered a knee injury three plays into the second half and had to leave the game, the Lions were able to compensate by moving Hubbard to center and bringing in sophomore Ryan Totman. After quarterback Nick Arthers fumbled two of the next five snaps from Hubbard away, the revamped line began to gel.
“We lost a good guard and one of our best trappers by moving Chris to center, but we felt we had to do that,” said Belfast co-coach Butch Richards. “We had some problems with the penalties and the missed snaps, but they got it together eventually.”
As well as the offense played, Belfast’s defense was the foundation upon which this win was built. The challenge was finding a way to slow down and contain Gorham’s double-wing offense, which uses a wedge formation to obscure the handoffs and hide the backs.
“We did a few things we wouldn’t normally have to do against another offense,” said Richards. “We had to convince our defensive linemen that if they were getting knocked off the line of scrimmage, they had to make a pile and drop while trying to take two people out. And we had to convince our ends that they had to squeeze down and let someone else make the play. They had to take down the pulling lineman.”
It took Belfast three possessions to figure it out, but they slowed the Rams’ charge eventually.
“The play of their defensive tackle, Ronnie Morse, was really big. He’s probably the best player we’ve seen all year,” said Dave Kilborn. “We made a lot of our adjustments for him, which is unique for us to do just for one player.”
Gorham drew first blood via a 16-play, 74-yard touchdown drive on its opening possession.
Belfast tied it up in the second quarter on a four-play, 53-yard drive capped by Arthers’ 24-yard TD run. The Lions made it 16-8 with a 13-play, 68-yard drive seven minutes later.
“At halftime, we said not to get too overconfident,” said Arthers, who thwarted a Gorham scoring threat with a fourth down interception at the B-6 and 54-yard return with 11/2 minutes left in the scoreless third quarter. “We didn’t want anything to happen like it did last year.”
The Lions started the fourth with an eight-play, 48-yard drive Arthers -ended with a four-yard TD run with 7:21 to play. Two possessions and five minutes later, tailback Andy Oldenburg hauled in a 54-yard reception, fumbled it, and had it recovered by Gorham at the B-2. Three plays later, Oldenburg (100 yards on 26 carries) made it 22-16 with a one-yard TD run and two-point conversion rush.
Gorham attempted an onside kick, but Belfast’s Jamie Potvin covered it and the Lions scored three plays later. A 42-yard run by Paul Herman highlighted the drive.
LIONS 28, RAMS 16
Gorham (8-3) 8 0 0 8 ? 16
Belfast (9-2) 0 16 6 6 ? 28
G?Hutton 2 fumble recovery in end zone (Oldenburg rush)
B?Arthers 24 run (Aldus rush)
B?Aldus 16 run (Cole pass from Arthers)
B?Arthers 4 run (rush failed)
G?Oldenburg 1 run (Oldenburg rush)
B?Arthers 3 run (kick blocked)
Gorham Belfast
First downs 11 14
Rushing att.-yards 52-177 48-290
Passing comp.-att. 3-11 1-3
Passing yards 70 4
Total yards 247 294
Punts-avg. 4-30.5 3-30.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-2
Intercepted by 0 1
Penalties-yards 2-15 6-35
Rushing
Gorham: Oldenburg 26-100, Nason 15-46, Hutton 10-25, team 1-6; Belfast: Aldus 19-122, Herman 10-80, Arthers 16-62, Horne 3-26
Passing
Gorham: Tole 3-11-1-70; Belfast: Arthers 1-3-0-4
Receiving
Gorham: Oldenburg 1-54, Hutton 2-16; Belfast: Herman 1-4
A?4,000 (est.)
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