PITTSFIELD, Maine — Top-ranked Maine Central Institute parlayed stifling defense and methodical offense into a third straight LTC football championship Friday night.
The undefeated Huskies scored on four of their first five possessions and limited third-ranked Dexter to 11 rushing yards en route to a 41-0 victory in the Class D North final at chilly, windy Alumni Field.
The win was the 31st straight against LTC opposition for MCI, which will face the survivor of Saturday’s Class D South final between Winthrop-Monmouth and Lisbon on Nov. 19 in Portland in search of its first state title since 1974.
“In the past we peaked earlier in the season but we feel like we’re peaking right now,” said MCI coach Tom Bertrand. “We know the West (South) is tough, but we’re going down and watch Winthrop and Lisbon play (Saturday) and we know it’s going to be a heck of a game in Portland.”
Dexter, playing in its first conference championship game since 1991, finished with an 8-3 record — with two of the losses to MCI.
“We changed up a few things but it was just about execution and they executed a lot better than we did tonight,” said Tigers’ co-coach Andrew Shorey.
MCI’s defense yielded an average of 0.5 yards per Dexter rushing attempt.
“We didn’t do a lot different as far as run defense,” said Bertrand, whose team was similarly stingy during a 36-2 win at Dexter during Week 6 of the regular season. “We try to get the push up front and get the reads and get the keys and make the plays and not miss tackles and not miss assignments, and we did a pretty good job of that. I was pretty happy with our run defense.”
Dexter did get a 25-yard run from Tyler Beem midway through the second quarter but had only one other rush longer than 5 yards in 21 attempts. The Tigers managed just three first downs during the contest and finished with 56 total yards and three turnovers.
“When we’re not able to run we’re not able to throw,” said Dexter co-coach Brian Salsbury. “They have a great run defense and we weren’t able to run on them tonight.
“And when we’re not moving the ball, they’re getting great field position every time we punt.”
MCI capitalized on several short fields with offensive balance. Senior quarterback Josh Buker was the catalyst, completing 7 of 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown while rushing 11 times for 76 yards and another score as the Huskies totaled 151 yards on the ground.
MCI outgained Dexter 230-30 in total yardage while building a 28-0 halftime lead.
The Huskies drove inside Dexter territory before being forced to punt the first time they had the ball, then regained that field position with a three-and-out defensive stand to set up an eight-play, 40-yard march. Buker scrambled 26 yards to the Tigers’ 4 before Willie Moss scored on the next play to make it 7-0 with 2:20 left in the opening quarter.
MCI then pinned Dexter deep in its territory again before regaining possession at the Tigers’ 46. Wood gained four yards on the final play of the first quarter, and on the next play Buker threw over the middle to Adam Bertrand, who eluded several tacklers while completing a 42-yard touchdown play to extended the lead to 14-0 only 13 seconds into the second quarter.
An interception by Eli Bussell gave MCI the ball at the Dexter 27, and a 19-yard pass from Buker to Clark Morrison set up a 1-yard scoring run by Bussell that gave the Huskies a 21-0 lead with 6:29 left before intermission.
A Dexter punt that netted zero yards set MCI up for a 35-yard scoring drive before intermission, with Buker running the final four yards behind lead blocks by Bussell and Moss to give the Huskies their four-touchdown cushion at the break.
Bussell added his second touchdown of the night on a 13-yard run with 4:41 left in the third quarter, and Pedro Matos added a 9-yard scoring run in the final period.
