BREWER – Halloween night … Orange-and-black uniforms … Witches vs. Black Raiders.

Friday night’s football game between Brewer and Winslow had all the ingredients for a horrific show as Brewer has found Winslow tricky to beat for the last decade, but instead fans were treated to a graphic, smashmouth affair won by the unbeaten Black Raiders.

Neither team was scared as the defenses dominated, but Winslow was able to combine the steady running of Derek Runnells, the sure hands of tight end Jake Welch, and a suffocating defense to bag a 21-7 win over the Witches.

The win sweetens 8-0 Winslow’s spot atop the Pine Tree Conference “B” standings as they clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs. The 6-2 Witches will be No. 2 and likely host No. 3 Belfast next week.

“They did a good job, even when things weren’t going their way,” said Winslow coach Mike Siviski. “That was a good, hard-hitting football game.”

Even in defeat, Brewer coach Eddie Ortego felt his team was a winner.

“We’re taking away a lot from this game. What we wanted the kids to learn was how to play in a big-time game,” said Ortego. “That’s been one of our problems the last two or three years. This is the best team in the state and we wanted to know we could play with them and we know we can beat a team like that.”

Winslow executed well offensively as Runnells accounted for 131 of his team’s 201 yards on the ground and 320 total, but the yards came grudgingly, especially in the first half.

Things started opening up a bit for Winslow after the Raiders began exploiting a seam in Brewer’s run-honed defense with short passes to tight end Jake Welch over the middle.

“We kept a lot of drives going with our passing game. Our play-action pass opened up some of our option game,” Siviski said. “They were really keyed up for Runnells. He’s been fantastic for us and they really shut him down.”

Quarterback Josh LaPointe hit Welch for completions of 21 and 25 yards during a four-minute scoring drive that began late in the first quarter. The 65-yard, 13-play drive culminated in a 3-yard TD run by Ben McPherson with 9:17 left in the second.

“I owe most of it to the guys on the line because they fake run block so good, and I run out there and see everyone trying to stop the run and it leaves me wide open,” Welch said.

Winslow followed that by stuffing Brewer on fourth-and-one and getting the ball back four plays and two minutes later. Welch caught a 16-yard pass to start things off and, five plays later, Marty McCaslin scored on a 12-yard run to make it 14-0.

“If it hadn’t been for the tight end plays, I think we’d have stopped them,” said Ortego. “Once you have a guy dedicated to the tight end, he has a little more room to move over there.”

Winslow made it 21-0 on a perfectly executed run-fake up the middle by McCaslin that fooled everyone and freed Runnells to run – untouched – 35 yards for a TD with 6:12 left in the third.

“They all went after McCaslin and I just went around and scored. It was easy,” Runnells said.

Brewer had its lone score courtesy of a 12-play, 76-yard drive capped by quarterback Dan Fox’s 1-yard TD run. Fox replaced Court Rancourt and completed passes of 12, 15, and 22 yards in the drive.

BLACK RAIDERS 21, WITCHES 7

Winslow (8-0) 0 14 7 0 ? 21

Brewer (6-2) 0 0 0 7 ? 7

W ? McPherson 3 run (Poulin kick)

W ? McCaslin 12 run (Poulin kick)

W ? Runnells 35 run (Poulin kick)

B ? D. Fox 1 run (McAvoy kick)

Winslow Brewer

First downs 16 7

Rushing att.-yards 43-201 34-107

Passing comp.-att. 8-12 4-9

Passing yards 119 58

Total yards 320 165

Punts-avg. 3-29.3 4-24.8

Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-0

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 8-62 3-25

Rushing

Winslow: Runnells 27-131, McCaslin 10-69, McPherson 1-3, Nelson 1-1, LaPointe 3-1, Souviney 1-(minus 4); Brewer: C. Fox 12-49, Noyes 10-24, Rancourt 6-14, Frost 2-12, Porter 1-4, Ronco 1-2, D. Fox 2-2

Passing

Winslow: LaPointe 8-12-0-119; Brewer: D. Fox 2-4-0-34, Rancourt 2-5-1-24

Receiving

Winslow: Welch 4-67, Nelson 1-26, Ferrigan 2-15, McCaslin 1-11; Brewer: Davis 2-35, Porter 2-23

A?1,000 (est.)