Geiger gives Ponies a boost in win

DOVER-FOXCROFT – Depth has been a key component of Foxcroft Academy’s football success this fall.

On Saturday, it was Jon Geiger’s turn.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior tight end and defensive end hadn’t caught a pass all season, but he was around the football at two crucial junctures of the unbeaten Ponies’ 14-13 win over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in the Eastern Maine Class C final at Oakes Field.

Geiger made his first catch of the season midway through the second quarter, a 23-yard pass from quarterback David White on fourth-and-five from the Mattanawcook 29.

“I can hardly remember it, it went by so quick,” said Geiger, who caught the ball in the left flat and then raced down the sideline to the MA 6. “I just caught it and ran as hard as I could.”

That play kept alive an 11-play, 93-yard drive that gave the Ponies a 14-0 lead when wingback Brad Bellemare scored on a 7-yard run.

“It’s not a question of Jon not being a great athlete, but we’ve gone with the power set all season and not thrown the ball that much,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “I just thought this was a good situation where we would crisscross our two tight ends and slide the power back into the flat, and David did a nice job of shuffling to his left and delivering the ball.”

Bellemare’s subsequent touchdown proved to be the difference in the game despite a furious late rally by the Lynx.

Mattanawcook closed within 14-13 on two Derek Libbey touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, then marched deep into FA territory again after Jesse Miller recovered an onside kick with 1:09 left.

But Geiger came up big again for the Ponies, this time on the defensive side.

After the Lynx reached the Foxcroft 15 with 35.9 seconds left, defensive end Evan Worthing stopped MA’s Brady Vose for a 4-yard loss on a pass into the right flat.

Then Geiger delivered his second quarterback sack of the day, a pivotal 10-yard loss that left the Lynx with third-and-24 from the FA 29.

“We knew [Libbey] was going to throw, so we just had to step it up,” said Geiger. “It wasn’t just me, it was the whole team. It was the end of the game, and we just had to go all-out.”

Libbey then spiked the ball to stop the clock with 6.6 seconds left, and a fourth-down Hail Mary pass into the end zone went incomplete.

“Now you hear about a Jon Geiger in an Eastern Maine championship game, someone you might not have heard about that much during the season,” said Withee. “But that’s really where our depth has come in for us all year, because Jon’s an outstanding player.”