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PORTLAND – Friday night was a fitful night of rest for Brewer High School senior Ben Caldwell.
“I made sure I was home by 10 and I got in bed around 10:30, but then I just couldn’t sleep,” Caldwell recalled. “I woke up at 12, got to sleep again … woke up at 3, then woke up again at 6. It was hard to sleep.”
That was about the only thing the Witches’ starting fullback and linebacker had any difficulty doing as he and his teammates made it look downright easy on the field against York with a 33-0 victory in Saturday afternoon’s Class B state championship football game.
Caldwell was a living nightmare for the Wildcats as he ran for 148 yards and a touchdown with 25 carries on the Fitzpatrick Stadium FieldTurf. He become the third Brewer back to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark this season and helped lead the 10-2 Witches to a dream season and their first state gridiron title in 35 years.
Not even the most optimistic orange-and-black-clad fan predicted this for the 10-2 squad.
“We would have looked at them like they were crazy. It’s hard to believe even now after we’ve done it,” Caldwell said. “When the time was ticking down, when there was 20-something seconds left, I was just standing there going ‘It’s actually coming true.’ To shut them out to boot, well, that’s just crazy.”
Caldwell led the charge for a Brewer offensive unit that averaged 41/2 yards per carry.
“Our offensive line did a great job for us opening big holes for us to run through,” said quarterback Ricky Porter, one of those 1,000-yard rushers who had three touchdowns and 59 yards on 15 carries. “Coach told us we had a chance to get three [1,000-yard rushers] and I was just shocked. Caldwell wanted that 90-something yards so bad and we were excited to get it.”
Brewer’s offensive line of center Zack Sherry, guards Matt Cormier and Matt Wilson, and tackles James Ecker and Scott Helmke cleared the way as the Witches racked up 282 total yards on the ground.
“Our line is super fast and our technique is great,” said tri-captain Ecker, who also starts at defensive tackle.
Brewer held a commanding edge in first downs (16 to eight) and time of possession (321/2 minutes to 151/2).
“Everything was just clicking right from the get-go,” Caldwell said. “I mean, our offense against a 4-4 defense is just perfect because the reads are so much easier to see.”
“We don’t have a lot of speed and we’re young, so if we have to think, we get in trouble, and we hadn’t played any option teams,” said York coach Randy Small. “It’s tough to simulate speed in practice and we were always a step behind today.”
Brewer was equally impressive on the defensive side as it limited York to 129 total yards while forcing six turnovers (three fumbles and three interceptions).
“We just basically used our speed to get after them,” Wilson said. “We stayed low and drove into them.”
Caldwell, Phil Turmelle, and Tristin Oldmixon each had interceptions, while Anthony Ngo, James Butts, and Ricky Adams recovered fumbles.
Brewer held 1,450-yard rusher Zach Pruger to 58 on 18 carries and limited quarterback Chris Knox to one completion in 14 attempts.
“The guys up front were controlling their men and letting us have free shots at their ballcarriers,” said Caldwell.
Brewer scored on its opening possession, a 58-yard, 11-play drive that ate up almost five minutes. After forcing York to go three-and-out, the Witches made it 12-0 with a five-play, 38-yard drive. Despite Brewer’s domination, head coach Ed Ortego was cautious at halftime.
“They could have come back and made it really tight, but I told coach [Dana] Corey if we scored that third touchdown, we’re state champs, but don’t put the pressure on the kids,” said Ortego, who is resigning after this, his third season as head coach to return to his native Louisiana. “Just stress moving the ball and winning field position.”
And they did. Brewer’s opening drive in the second half was stopped at the Y-26 by a Knox interception of Ricky Adams. But Pruger coughed it up on the next play and Brewer took over on the Y-31 before scoring with a six-play drive capped by Porter’s 3-yard TD run. Zack Wilson’s two-point conversion rush to the left side made it 20-0 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.
Brewer started pulling the curtains down on York’s 9-3 season after recovering the first of two muffed York kick returns at the Y-23 and marching back into the end zone in five plays 2:20 later.
The final score came with 7:11 left in the game as Adams capped a six-play, 25-yard drive and made York pay for another fumble on a punt return with a 6-yard TD run.
York’s best chance to score came late in the second quarter as it mounted a 10-play, 33-yard drive that reached the B-11. But after getting a first-and-10 at the B-12, Pruger’s 2-yard run on second down was the only positive yardage the Wildcats could get as two passes were dropped on the next two downs.
“Our defense pitching a shutout really impresses me,” said Ortego, whose Witches allowed 30 points in four playoff wins while scoring 123. “We’ve gone against some great teams and held them down.”
WITCHES 33, WILDCATS 0
Brewer (10-2) 12 0 14 7 – 33
York (9-3) 0 0 0 0 – 0
B-Porter 1 run (kick blocked)
B-Caldwell 1 run (pass failed)
B-Porter 3 run (Z.Wilson rush)
B-Porter 9 run (rush failed)
B-Adams 6 run (Juilli kick)
Brewer York
First downs 16 8
Rushing att.-yards 62-282 32-116
Passing comp.-att. 0-2 1-14
Passing yards 0 13
Total yards 282 129
Punts-avg. 2-27.0 2-19.5
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-3
Intercepted by 3 1
Penalties-yards 3-20 1-5
Rushing
Brewer: Caldwell 25-148, Porter 15-59, Z. Wilson 9-47, Adams 5-16, Bush 4-9, Oldmixon 2-2, Ngo 1-1; York: Pruger 18-58, Knox 4-29, Moulton 3-12, Quinn 2-9, MacGlashing 1-5, Lipton 1-3, Willette 1-1, Pidgeon 1-0, Rodriguez 1-(-1)
Passing
Brewer: Porter 0-1-0-0, Adams 0-1-1-0; York: Knox 1-14-3-13
Receiving
Brewer: none; York: Romano 1-13
A-2,000 (est.)
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