WATERVILLE, Maine — Jonathan Santiago and Eric Hathaway have spent much of the high school football season recovering from injuries.
It has apparently left the two Maine Central Institute seniors quite fresh for their team’s playoff push.
The duo combined for 280 rushing yards and three touchdowns Friday night to complement a stifling defensive effort by the top-ranked and undefeated Huskies of Pittsfield as they shut out No. 4 Mattanawcook Academy 20-0 in their LTC Eastern Maine Class D semifinal at Seaverns Field on the Colby College campus.
“It’s been a progression toward getting them back,” said MCI coach Tom Bertrand. “We weren’t waiting for the postseason but we certainly wanted to make sure they were ready.”
MCI (9-0) will host No. 2 Bucksport (8-1) in next Saturday’s LTC championship game. Bucksport defeated No. 3 John Bapst of Bangor 41-13 in Friday night’s other semifinal played at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.
Mattanawcook ends its season at 5-4.
Santiago, who returned to action after several weeks on the sideline for MCI’s regular-season finale against Houlton two weeks ago, carried the ball 27 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
Hathaway, who returned to duty during last week’s exhibition game against Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, added 137 yards and a score on 20 rushes behind the blocking of linemen Jimmy Hall, Mike Steeves, Curtis McLeod, Mike Westgate and Nick Deckert, and tight end Mitchell Hallee.
“Playing tonight was all I thought about all week,” said Hathaway, who also had a stellar evening at defensive end amid chilly, windy conditions. “I couldn’t get my mind off it. I’ve waited so long for this. We’ve got to keep going now.”
Perhaps even more impressive than the MCI rushing attack was its defense, which limited Mattanawcook to one first down and 47 yards of total offense in the contest while avenging a 34-6 semifinal loss to the Lynx last season.
“They’re big and strong and fly around defensively, but we also knew they were going to be able to move the football,” Bertrand said of Mattanawcook, which MCI rallied past 25-15 in their regular-season meeting last month. “So for our defense to step up and shut them down, I couldn’t be more proud.”
It didn’t take long for Santiago to make an impact, as the swift tailback took a pitch from quarterback Greg Vigue and raced around left end 15 yards to the end zone to give MCI the lead less than four minutes into the contest.
Santiago began the seven-play, 56-yard march with runs of 6 and 9 yards, and twice the Huskies made third-down conversions to keep the drive alive.
Willie Moss added the extra-point kick to give the Huskies a 7-0 edge with 8:26 left in the opening quarter.
MCI later churned out a 17-play possession from its 16 to the Mattanawcook 33 late in the first quarter and early in the second, but the drive ended on an overthrown halfback option pass by Hathaway on fourth-and-13.
The remainder of the half was dominated by defenses that keyed largely on the run — the teams combined to complete just one of 12 passes for 4 yards during the opening two periods.
MCI outgained the Lynx 192-22 in the first half, with Santiago rushing 14 times for 86 yards and Hathaway adding 66 yards on nine attempts.
That early ball control ultimately helped MCI wear down the MA defense, leading to back-to-back third-quarter scoring drives that put the game away.
Santiago took an inside handoff and cut wide left for a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 5:44 left in the third quarter, completing an eight-play, 55-yard march.
A 10-yard Mattanawcook punt into the wind gave the Huskies an even shorter field for their next possession, and they drove 45 yards in seven plays to make it 20-0 on a 2-yard run by Hathaway with 1:40 left in the period.
Hathaway was the workhorse during this possession, rushing five times for 32 yards to go with a 14-yard over the middle from Vigue to Hallee.
