While Foxcroft has been the dominant team in the LTC football ranks in recent years, Mattanawcook Academy appears well positioned to challenge the Ponies for regional supremacy again next year.

The Lynx graduate some key seniors, including Shey Gardner, Isaac Young, Dan Lifer, Steve Braley, and Jesse Miller, but will return a strong nucleus both along the line of scrimmage and in the offensive and defensive backfields in an effort to return to the Eastern C final for the third straight year.

Junior Derek Libbey, who passed for 160 yards and rushed for 62 more while replacing the injured Gardner at quarterback in Saturday’s EM title game, is poised to move into that position full-time next fall.

“He makes plays,” said MA coach Art Greenlaw. “He throws the ball well and makes good decisions. He’s going to be a factor in another year for sure, and he was a factor [Saturday].”

The Lynx also will return 1,000-yard rusher Brady Vose, just a sophomore, as well as two of the conference’s top defensive players in linebacking brothers Ian and Nate Nevells, both juniors.

“The Nevells are a pair of great linebackers, and we didn’t break any big gains outside against them,” said Foxcroft lineman Bill Macomber after Saturday’s game. “That’s usually what our strength is.”

The Nevells also play on the offensive line and, along with Matt Brown, Devin Ireland, Darren Smart, and Evan Haskell, will give the Lynx a veteran presence in the trenches next fall.

“They’re a great team, and they’ll lose some quality athletes, but they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with next year with all those big juniors they have coming back,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “The Libbey kid showed that they weren’t going to miss a beat with him at quarterback, and I didn’t think they would. I knew he was a good athlete, but I didn’t know he could throw as well as he did.”

Bucksport’s Gordon resigns

Bucksport girls soccer coach Jack Gordon has stepped down after seven years and an Eastern Maine Class B championship.

His resignation comes as his youngest daughter, Lindsey Gordon, finished her final year in the program. Although his plan was to step aside once Lindsey was finished, Jack Gordon said his strong junior group made him start to rethink his decision.

But he realized that after seven years of the daily grind of practices and games, he had had enough.

“I decided to let it go, see how I felt about it, but it was the right thing to do,” Gordon said. “It wasn’t an easy decision, knowing the players I’ve got, but I hope they understand.”

Gordon guided the Golden Bucks to the 2001 Eastern Maine Class B championship and developed Bucksport into one of the top teams in Eastern Maine. The Bucks went 12-2-2 this year and lost in the semifinals to eventual EM champ Winslow.

“We’ve done well,” Gordon said. “We had good players, we won an Eastern Maine championship.”