Warren, Bucks crush Tigers

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ROCKLAND – Time to shine up the quarter for the coin flip that will start the LTC football tiebreaking process for 5-4 Bucksport, Rockland and Orono.

The three share the fourth and final playoff spot.

The Golden Bucks looked that and then some as they saved their best effort of the season for last and shocked the favored Tigers 65-14 in the regular-season finale to muddy the playoff waters. Bapst defeated Orono 49-19.

Nate Warren was unstoppable for the Bucks as he capped a 1,500-yard rushing season with an eye-popping effort. The junior tailback gained 258 yards and scored six touchdowns on just 19 carries.

“We have a very good line and they opened up some huge holes for me,” said Warren, who finished the regular season with 1,502 yards rushing. “We just came to play.”

That line of center Dylan Small, tackles C.J. Breidt and Brandon Blair, and guards Robbie Winters and Craig Woodard, along with help from tight end Keegan Harriman and fullbacks Alex Giosia and Andrew Findlay, paved the way for 416 total rushing yards Friday.

Even Bucksport’s coaches couldn’t resist asking the same question on the lips of every fan watching Friday’s shocking turnaround game for the Bucks: Where have these guys been all season?

“I don’t know. We had that potential all season long but had one mistake after another. We just came alive and now we’ve started playing like we should be,” said Findlay, a junior who also plays linebacker.

Giosia also eclipsed the 100 mark with 107 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Derek Fish picked his spots, throwing just four passes, but he completed three of them for 109 yards.

“They played hard and did just what they wanted to do between the tackles,” said Rockland coach Woody Moore. “Offensively and defensively, if you’d told me that was going to happen in the first half, I would have bet $1,000 against it. I was thinking the complete opposite, to be honest with you.”

Meanwhile, the Bucks’ defense was harassing Rockland quarterback Dylan Meklin all game long while still being able to slow down star running back Andrew Weiss.

“We put a lot of emphasis on the pass game because that’s been a weakness of ours, but we ran a 4-3 defense with two safeties out to put pressure on the quarterback, and our ends really put the pressure on their passing game,” said Findlay.

“We just practiced all week on getting to the quarterback. We got pressure from everywhere and shot the gaps,” said senior defensive back Keegan Harriman, who helped lead Bucksport’s defensive effort by subbing at defensive end for injured starter Allen Pomeroy and posting two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

Rockland tailback Weiss finished with 128 hard-earned yards on 23 carries. Meklin completed just six of 17 passes for 111 yards while being sacked four times and picked off once.

In all, the Bucks pressured Rockland into three turnovers.

“I think one of the keys was right from the beginning, we really hit people and blistered them,” said Bucks coach Joel Sankey. “We kind of put them back on their heels a little.”

The Bucks scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions and never looked back. Warren followed up a 60-yard pass completion from Fish to Cam Wentworth with a 2-yard TD run 28 seconds into the game, then scored on a 76-yard run 31/2 minutes later, and made it 21-0 on an 80-yard run with 6:26 left in the opening quarter.

GOLDEN BUCKS 65, TIGERS 14

Bucksport (5-4) 29 22 14 0 – 65

Rockland (5-4) 6 8 0 0 – 14

B-Warren 2 run (Wood kick)

B-Warren 76 run (kick failed)

B-Warren 80 run (Harriman kick)

R-Searle 18 pass from D. Meklin (rush failed)

B-Giosia 1 run (Findlay rush)

R-Boynton 1 run (Baudanza rush)

B-Warren 3 run (Wentworth pass from Fish)

B-Warren 11 run (Fish rush)

B-Wentworth 33 pass from Fish (rush failed)

B-Warren 20 run (Findlay pass from Fish)

B-Alvarado 20 run (rush failed)

Bucksport Rockland

First downs 21 13

Rushing att.-yards 53-416 37-107

Passing comp.-att. 3-4 6-17

Passing yards 109 111

Total yards 525 218

Punts-avg. 1-35.0 4-33.7

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-2

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 5-45 9-80

Rushing

Bucksport: Warren 19-258, Giosia 15-107, Findlay 5-31, Alvarado 2-17, McGeechan 5-5, Burgess 2-(minus-2); Rockland: A. Weiss 23-128, R. Meklin 3-22, Boynton 2-5, Sanford 3-(minus-2), Searle 1-(minus-17), D. Meklin 5-(minus-29)

Passing

Bucksport: Fish 3-4-0-109; Rockland: D. Meklin 6-17-1-111

Receiving

Bucksport: Wentworth 2-93, Findlay 1-16; Rockland: Searle 2-34, A. Weiss 2-25, S. Weiss 1-29, Baudanza 1-23

A-300 (est.)