MILLINOCKET – The Stearns football team has relied heavily on its defense so far this season. But the squad hadn’t been tested much before Friday night’s game against LTC rival Bucksport.

The Minutemen looked shaky at times, but they held up against Bucksport’s tough passing game – especially late, with the game on the line.

Stearns had three interceptions in the fourth quarter, including one by Matt Wark that set up the winning touchdown and two in the final 1 minute, 30 seconds of the game to protect a one-point lead, as the Minutemen edged the Golden Bucks 21-20 at Alumni Field.

Quarterback Derek DiFrederico had the key score for Stearns, a 31-yard run with 8:52 remaining in the game. A pass attempt for the two-point conversion failed, so the Minutemen had to hang on to their slim lead.

Stearns goes to 4-0, but for some of the Minutemen their undefeated record was trumped by their first win over Bucksport (2-2) in two years.

“It was a confidence-builder,” said DiFrederico, who finished with a game-high 99 yards on 14 carries. “We hadn’t beaten them, and we finally did, so it feels really good.”

Stearns had a 15-6 lead at halftime, but as the rain picked up so did the Golden Bucks, thanks to Joey Carmichael’s passing and some key rushes.

After forcing the Minutemen to go three-and-out, a partially blocked punt allowed the Bucks to gain excellent field position at the Stearns 19-yard line. John Harvey had two rushes to get Bucksport to the 16, and then Carmichael completed a pass to an open Josh Johnson in the end zone. Carmichael connected with Drew Pooler for a two-point conversion to make it 15-14 with 5:55 left in the third.

“We kept them off-balance, ran some draws and traps,” Bucksport coach Joel Sankey. “We didn’t throw the ball much until the second quarter. The game plan was to shorten the game, take time off the clock, and get first downs.”

About 31/2 minutes later, Carmichael picked off a DiFrederico pass and returned it 60 yards for another score. The two-point conversion attempt failed this time, leaving the Bucks with a five-point lead.

DiFrederico’s winning touchdown was originally set up by Wark’s interception early in the fourth. Wark picked off the pass at the Stearns 14, then contributed 42 yards of the 86-yard scoring drive, culminating in DiFrederico’s run to make it 21-20.

“Coach was saying that he didn’t throw them up, that he just lofted them,” said Wark, who had 55 of his 66 rushing yards in the second half. “So I watched his eyes and I got lucky. I got it.”

“[Wark’s interception] was a confidence thing,” Stearns coach Chris Preble said. “He had gotten beat on a couple of pass plays and we talked to him at halftime about what he had to do.”

Bucksport missed a 20-yard field-goal attempt, and the Stearns defense intercepted two more Carmichael passes to help seal the win. Ryan Bouchard intercepted a Bucksport pass at about the Stearns 7 with 1:30 left in the game.

“[Carmichael] has a strong arm, so we knew our [defensive backs] and our safeties had to step up,” said DiFrederico, who also starts at linebacker. “They got a couple of balls, but overall I think we stopped them.”

Despite his trouble late, Carmichael completed seven passes for 128 yards. Johnson caught four passes for 104 yards.

Bucksport’s Chris Woodman had 60 of his 84 rushing yards in the second half. John Harvey finished with 65 yards.

DiFrederico scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a 25-yard run, and Wark had an electrifying 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 21 seconds left in the second quarter. That helped negate some of the momentum the Golden Bucks had after Carmichael threw an 18-yard TD pass to Harvey.

“They got some big gains, but we were fortunate to slow them down,” Preble said. “We bent a little bit, but fortunately we were able to hold on.”

MINUTEMEN 21, BUCKS 20

Bucksport (2-2) 0 6 14 0 ? 20

Stearns (4-0) 7 8 0 6 ? 21

S?DiFrederico 25 run (Pelkey kick)

B?Harvey 18 pass from Carmichael (kick failed)

S?M. Wark 82 kickoff return (Marquis pass from DiFrederico)

B?Johnson 18 pass from Carmichael (Pooler pass from Carmichael)

B?Carmichael 60 interception return (pass failed)

S?DiFrederico 31 run (pass failed)

Bucksport Stearns

First downs 9 11

Rushing att.-yards 31-162 47-218

Passing comp.-att. 7-19 1-3

Passing yards 146 10

Total yards 290 228

Punts-avg. 4-41.2 7-38.2

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1

Intercepted by 1 3

Penalties-yards 6-55 3-20

Rushing

Bucksport: Woodman 13-84, Harvey 16-65, Tymoczko 1-11, Carmichael 1-2; Stearns: DiFrederico 14-99, M. Wark 23-66, Bennett 5-31, C. Cullen 5-22,

Passing

Bucksport: Carmichael 7-19-3-146; Stearns: DiFrederico 1-3-1-10

Receiving

Bucksport: Johnson 4-104, Pooler 1-22, Harvey 2-20; Stearns: LeGassey 1-10

A?400 (est.)