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BAR HARBOR – Having lost their last two games at home by a combined score of 88-6, the Brewer Witches sought refuge and a bit of redemption on the road Friday night.
But as their Pine Tree Conference Class B football matchup against previously unbeaten Mount Desert Island began, it looked for a while like more of the same. MDI scored on its first possession, and Brewer twice drove into Trojans’ territory only to fumble the ball away.
But this night was different, as the Witches rose up defensively, mustered a scoring drive of their own, and watched a 22-yard field-goal try by MDI sail wide left with 22 seconds left to earn a hard-fought 7-6 victory.
“This is great,” said Brewer senior quarterback Rick Adams. “This game was going to make or break our season, because after two huge defeats we had to come back and show that, in fact, we could play football, because the last couple of games we hadn’t really showed it. This was huge for us.”
The win does revive Brewer’s playoff hopes, as the defending Class B state champs improve to 2-2. MDI, off to its best start in years, falls to 3-1.
“We knew they’d come down here and play us hard tonight, and they did,” said MDI coach Mark Shields. “They showed a tremendous amount of heart. Their backs were against the wall as far as the playoffs go, they needed a win and they deserved to win. They played hard.”
So, too, did a revitalized MDI program that’s seeking its first postseason appearance since 1998.
In fact, the Trojans made it look easy on their first drive, taking the opening kickoff and marching 60 yards in 12 plays to take a 6-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Jon Hall with 6:10 left in the first quarter.
But while MDI outgained Brewer 246-180 on the night, the Trojans would not score again.
“The last two weeks at home we’ve gotten embarrassed on the first drive, teams have come out and scored on us,” said Brewer senior fullback and linebacker Tim Bush. “The same thing happened tonight, but we just weren’t going to lose three in a row.”
Brewer threatened twice in the first half, but fumbles on two straight possessions at the MDI 40 and the MDI 11 – both recovered by the Trojans’ Nick Lawson – left the Witches scoreless and somewhat frustrated at halftime.
But Brewer finally finished off a drive in the third quarter, after a 23-yard MDI punt set the Witches up at midfield. After a 5-yard penalty against Brewer, Adams passed 15 yards to tight end Ryan Babin, with a roughing the passer penalty on MDI adding 15 more yards and giving the Witches a first down at the Trojans’ 25.
Another Adams-to-Babin pass completion, this time on fourth-and-5 from the 20, netted a first down at the 6, and three plays later Bush muscled his way into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 2:13 left in the quarter.
Devin Fitzpatrick added the extra-point kick to give Brewer a 7-6 lead.
“[Babin’s] one of the first guys I look at,” said Adams, “He was getting open and I knew that he was going to catch it, so I just threw it in his area and he came down with them.”
MDI marched to the Brewer 25 before a sack of Trojans quarterback Sean Parady by Ralph Cammack ended that drive. MDI’s next possession was halted in similar fashion, with Jonathan Thoms sacking Parady near midfield to force a punt.
MDI’s final chance came when it took possession at its 44 with 2:39 left. A 13-yard pass from Parady to Alex Keene and a 12-yard scramble by Parady moved the ball into Brewer territory, and a 10-yard run by Hall gave the Trojans first and goal at the 5 with 53 seconds left.
A 1-yard loss by Hall, a spike by Parady and an incompletion into the end zone left MDI with fourth-and-goal from the 6. Hall then attempted a 22-yard field goal that was long enough, but wide left.
“That’s one of those calls where it’s fourth-and-[six] and we have a decent field-goal guy, so what the heck, let’s line it up,” Shields said. ” He got all of it with his foot, it was just a little left.”
WITCHES 7, TROJANS 6
Brewer (2-2) 0 0 7 0 – 7
MDI (3-1) 6 0 0 0 – 6
M – Hall 1 run (kick failed)
B – Bush 2 run (Fitzpatrick kick)
Brewer MDI
First downs 10 16
Rushing att.-yards 38-144 43-189
Passing comp.-att. 3-8 6-16
Passing yards 36 57
Total yards 180 246
Punts-avg. 4-33.8 4-26.8
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1
Intercepted by 0 0
Penalties-yards 8-57 5-55
Rushing
Brewer: Bush 11-40, Hutchins 6-38, Noddin 7-28, Burnham 3-16, Meeker 4-15, Adams 7-7; MDI: Hall 16-78, Gaynor 11-69, Dority 5-25, Parady 10-15, Keene 1-2
Passing
Brewer: Adams 3-7-0-36, Hutchins 0-1-0-0; MDI: Parady 6-15-0-57, Hall 0-1-0-0
Receiving
Brewer: Babin 2-29, Bush 1-7; MDI: Walton 3-22, Keene 2-17, Dority 1-18
A-750 (est.)
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