PITTSFIELD, Maine — Maine Central Institute blended the old with the new during the second half Friday to stake its claim as the team to beat in the LTC Class D football ranks with a 35-20 homecoming victory over Bucksport on Friday night.
Coach Tom Bertrand’s club avenged its only regular-season loss of the 2013 season with the victory and improved its record to 3-0, while defending Eastern Maine champion Bucksport fell to 1-1.
The Huskies used a no-huddle offense to instigate a bruising rushing attack after intermission.
And while the LTC’s leading rusher over the last two years, MCI’s Jonathan Santiago was held to 70 yards on 20 carries after gaining more than 200 yards in each of his team’s first two victories, backfield mates Alex Bertrand and Eric Hathaway more than picked up the slack, combining for 112 yards.
Most of that yardage by Bertrand and Hathaway came after intermission as MCI scored 21 unanswered points to break a 14-14 halftime tie before Bucksport got a 7-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stewart to Asher Bowden in the game’s final minute.
MCI also forced four Bucksport turnovers, with Jimmy Hall recovering two fumbles and Austin Tolman snaring two interceptions.
Jack Cyr led Bucksport offensively with 109 rushing yards on 15 carries, while Stewart completed 10 of 20 passes for 108 yards.
With Bucksport’s defense focused on containing Santiago, Hathaway and Bertrand took the ground-and-pound approach as MCI marched 65 yards on 14 rushing plays after receiving the second-half kickoff to take a 21-14 lead.
Bertrand and Hathaway each powered through the middle of the Bucks’ defense for 26 yards during the march, Bertrand covering the final 2 yards to give the Huskies their third seven-point lead of the game at 21-14 with 8:35 left in the third quarter.
MCI got the ball back in great field position at the Bucksport 21 later in the quarter when Hall recovered a fumbled punt. Santiago’s 7-yard run on fourth-and-two advanced the ball to the 5 before quarterback Greg Vigue found tight end Mitchell Hallee over the middle on fourth down with a 2-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-14 with 11:14 left in the contest.
MCI ran 27 plays from scrimmage during the third quarter compared to just five for Bucksport.
The Huskies got the ball back at the Bucksport 40 on Tolman’s second interception of the night — and used the same grinding style to march the distance in eight plays as Hathaway scored from 5 yards out to extend the margin to 35-14 with 4:55 to play.
A first half that began in high-scoring fashion reminiscent of Bucksport’s 42-35 victory over MCI in Week 7 last year concluded with the defenses dominating and the teams locked in a 14-14 stalemate.
MCI broke on top with 7:58 left in the opening quarter on a 5-yard scoring run by Santiago for a 7-0 lead, but the senior tailback managed little more over the first two quarters against the Bucksport defense — finishing the half with 36 yards on 12 carries.
Cyr similarly was held in check early — save for one play immediately after the MCI kickoff when he raced 63 yards to the end zone to forge a 7-7 tie with 7:26 left in the quarter.
MCI answered with a 12-play, 68-yard march to regain the lead at 14-7 on Willie Moss’ 16-yard counter run with 3:08 remaining in the quarter. The big moment on that drive came one play earlier when MCI quarterback Greg Vigue fumbled while being sacked, but Hall again was in the right place at the right time to make the recovery.
Bucksport then went 55 yards in nine plays, with Cyr scoring from 1 yard out on the second play of the second quarter.
A 26-yard pass from Stewart down the right sideline to Dylan Soper on a third-and-four play from near midfield was the pivotal play of the drive, with Cyr (10 carries, 95 yards in the first half) adding a 12-yard run to the MCI 11.
The remainder of the half featured three turnovers, two by MCI and one by Bucksport.
