SKOWHEGAN, Maine — It’s a drive that will live in the memories of Brewer High School football fans.
Junior fullback Trey Wood capped off a seven-minute, 54-second possession with a 1-yard, fourth-down touchdown run with 11 seconds left in Friday night’s Class B North semifinal, and backfield mate Dylan Severance added the go-ahead two-point conversion run to give the Witches a come-from-behind 16-15 win over Skowhegan at Reggie Clark Memorial Field.
“It’s one of those games where you hate to see someone lose,” said Brewer coach Nick Arthers, whose third-seed Witches (9-1) will play at top-ranked Brunswick in the regional final next weekend. “But at the end of the day our guys really buckled down. They wanted this pretty bad.”
Brewer, which was beset by four turnovers in the contest, including two pass interceptions in the end zone, had not scored since late in the first quarter and trailed 15-8 when it gained possession at its 43-yard line after a Skowhegan punt with 8:04 left in the game.
Arthers was presented a near-immediate coaching decision when the Witches faced fourth-and-3 from midfield moments later, but the choice not to punt paid off when quarterback Logan Rogerson — who was limping for much of the second half — ran for the first down to keep the drive alive.
“We put the ball in Logan’s hands and he made a great play,” said Arthers. “He’s a special athlete but he had been beat up over the course of the game. His hand started cramping up and he couldn’t feel his thumb, but he made a big play when we needed him to.
“I think the guys fed off that afterward and that’s what helped propel us down the field.”
Brewer proceeded down the field deliberately, amassing four more first downs behind the running of Severance (32 carries, 125 yards) and Wood (15-80).
The Witches gained first-and-goal at the 3 with 57.5 seconds left, but Skowhegan’s Kam Doucette immediately stuffed Severance for a 4-yard loss.
Brewer had all three of its timeouts left and needed them all, as Rogerson rushed for 6 yards on second down and Severance then came up short on an attempted dive into the end zone.
But Wood powered his way into the end zone on fourth down from the 1, and the Witches trailed just 15-14.
Brewer has attempted the two-point conversion play on most occasions this season, so it was no surprise when the Witches then went for the win, and Severance ran behind the left side of the line to provide his team the winning points.
Skowhegan did get the ball into Brewer territory thanks to a good kick return and two Brewer penalties, the second a pass interference call that gave the Indians a first down at the Witches’ 46 with 5.1 seconds left.
But Skowhegan’s last gasp was swallowed by Brewer junior defensive lineman Austin Lufkin, who sacked quarterback Garrett McSweeney to end the game.
Skowhegan, which had defeated Brewer 21-14 during Week 4 of the regular season, took a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game with a 73-yard march that ended when McSweeney found Spencer Salley over the middle on fourth-and-goal for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:06 left in the opening quarter.
McSweeney added the extra-point kick to give Skowhegan a 7-0 lead.
Brewer answered immediately, with Rogerson running left 12 yards to the end zone and Severance adding the two-point conversion run to give the Witches an 8-7 lead with 1:28 left in the period.
But both offenses soon stagnated.
A fumble recovery by Skowhegan’s Tanner Tower set up the go-ahead score by the Indians, a 1-yard run by McSweeney followed by Salley’s two-point conversion rush to make it 15-8 with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
Brewer moved into Skowhegan territory on its next possession, but a fourth-down fake punt resulted in another turnover.
The Witches then forced Skowhegan’s offense into a three-and-out to earn what turned out to be one final chance at a most memorable victory.
“They really locked us up in the red zone all night,” said Lufkin. “They came with that six front and sent all their backers and we weren’t sure what to run.
“But we figured it out, I guess.”
