The Brewer High School football team knocked off Brunswick during the 2015 regular season but fell to the Dragons in last year’s Class B North championship game.
The Witches would like to reverse that outcome Friday night.
Brunswick cruised to a 42-12 victory over visiting Brewer during their Week 6 regular-season matchup last month. Now the teams will meet for a fourth time in the last two years when the Dragons host the Witches at 7 p.m. with the Class B regional crown again at stake.
Top-ranked Brunswick (9-0) is coming off a 44-7 semifinal win over No. 5 Messalonskee of Oakland and has averaged more than 54 points per game. Coach Dan Cooper’s Dragons feature one the state’s deepest backfields with Hunter Garrett, Jesse Devereaux and Ben Palizay all capable of breaking off long runs behind quarterback Christian Jensen.
“One of the things they’ve been doing all year is getting themselves in good field position and that’s been hurting defenses,” said third-year Brewer head coach Nick Arthers. “That’s been something we’ve really stressed, trying to win field position and along the line of scrimmage trying to gain ground, which is tough because they’ve got some great guys up front.
“Then on defense we’ve got to try to overcome their speed because they’ve got some of the fastest backs in the state.”
Second-ranked Brewer (8-1) relies more on a power game on both sides of the ball, with a veteran line featuring Austin Lufkin and Cam Green paving the way for punishing senior tailback Trey Wood (1,821 rushing yards, 27 touchdowns).
Wood had 299 yards and two touchdowns on 40 carries in the Witches’ 44-34 semifinal victory over No. 6 Cony of Augusta last week, with fullback Zac Duncan adding 75 yards and three touchdowns on 11 attempts and reserve tailback Garrett Ireland chipping in 53 yards on nine rushes.
Brunswick, the two-time defending regional champion, raced out to a 36-0 halftime lead in its earlier meeting with Brewer, but the Witches say they won’t be surprised by the Dragons’ speed in the rematch.
“We don’t feel we’ve played a complete game yet this year,” said Arthers. “Last time we went down there we had a bunch of penalties, a lot of mental mistakes and we had a couple of turnovers in key situations and they really won the field-position battle.
“It’s going to be a tough test, but we’ve got a group of guys who are willing to do what it takes and it should be a good game.”
Class C
No. 3 Winslow Black Raiders (9-1) vs. No. 1 Mount Desert Island Trojans (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday at Bar Harbor: Tiebreakers haven’t been good to Winslow over the last two years. Last fall, the Black Raiders lost a coin flip to host the Class C North final but nevertheless rallied past Old Town en route to its second straight state championship. This year, coach Mike Siviski’s club finished in a three-way tie for first place with MDI and Madison-Carrabec but was seeded third based on strength of schedule. That meant not only no first-round bye for the Black Raiders but two road games to win if the two-time defending Class C champs are to play in a state final for the fifth consecutive year. Winslow avenged its lone loss since the 2013 state championship game last weekend with a 41-21 victory at Madison-Carrabec as Nate St. Amand and Kenny Rickard each rushed for more than 100 yards. Now the Black Raiders must travel to MDI, a team they defeated 40-20 in Week 3 of the regular season and 21-0 in last year’s semifinals. This year’s earlier game was similar to several recent Winslow-MDI matchups, with the Trojans staying close for much of the contest only for Winslow to pull away late. Coach Mark Shields’ MDI club will have to rely on its run game to control the clock and keep the ball away from Winslow’s high-octane offense if it is to win what would be considered an upset despite the seedings. MDI advanced to its first regional final since 2008 by pulling away late for a 20-6 semifinal win over Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston last week.
Class D
No. 3 Dexter Tigers (8-2) vs. No. 1 Maine Central Institute Huskies (10-0), 7 p.m. Friday at Pittsfield: MCI must get past a hard-nosed Dexter team playing in its first conference final in 25 years if it is to get a third straight crack at the Class D state championship. The Huskies have won 30 consecutive games against LTC competition, including a 36-2 victory at Dexter in Week 6 of the regular season. MCI’s offense features Josh Buker, a first-year starter at quarterback who also is one of the state’s most dangerous special-teams players with eight touchdowns on punt returns. Eli Bussell, Willie Moss and Adam Bertrand add to a deep rushing attack for coach Tom Bertrand’s club. Dexter managed just 91 yards of total offense during its first meeting against MCI but has plenty of playmakers of its own led by quarterback Brayden Miller, wideout Zach White and running back Tyler Beem. Dexter, co-coached by Bryan Salsbury and Andrew Shorey, avenged a one-point, regular-season loss at Orono with a 21-15 win over the Red Riots in last week’s semifinals. MCI advanced with a 41-8 win over Bucksport.
Class A
No. 2 Windham Eagles (6-3) at No. 1 Portland Bulldogs (8-1), 7 p.m. Friday: These teams will meet in postseason play for the fifth straight year, with Portland 3-1 in the earlier meetings including a 24-7 victory over Windham in the 2015 regional final. Portland also won 42-21 at Windham during Week 3 this season and eclipsed No. 4 Oxford Hills-Buckfield 55-7 in its playoff opener last week. Windham advanced by edging No. 3 Cheverus of Portland 9-7.
