PITTSFIELD, Maine — The Maine Central Institute football team has been on a remarkable upswing, rising from a winless campaign in 2012 to compiling a 31-2 record over the last three seasons with three LTC Class D regional championships.
Yet while the Huskies have won 31-consecutive conference games, it’s the other two results that has coach Tom Bertrand’s club longing for more.
Those were losses to Oak Hill of Sabattus in each of the last two state finals, 42-21 in 2014 and 34-21 last November.
The good news for MCI is it will have a third-straight chance to break through and win the school’s first gold ball in the sport since 1974, and the Huskies will face a different opponent in Lisbon, which won the D South crown last Saturday with a last-second victory over top-seeded and previously undefeated Winthrop-Monmouth.
Game time is 6:06 p.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
“In past we’ve peaked earlier in the season, but we feel like we’re peaking right now,” said Bertrand after top-ranked MCI’s 41-0 victory over No. 3 Dexter in last Friday’s LTC championship game. “We know the [South] is tough … and we know it’s going to be a heck of a game in Portland.”
Lisbon (8-1) avenged a season-opening 31-12 loss to Winthrop-Monmouth in stunning fashion. Coach Dick Mynahan’s club trailed 17-14 after a Winthrop-Monmouth touchdown with 16 seconds left, but a 55-yard desperation pass from quarterback Tyler Halls to Kurtis Bolton gave Lisbon the ball at the Ramblers’ 1 with 4.1 seconds left.
Noah Francis, the Greyhounds’ 275-pound fullback, did the rest, scoring with less than a second remaining to give Lisbon the 20-17 victory.
Remarkably, that result marks the most lopsided final score in the four Class D South/West championship games since the state went from three to four football classes in 2013. Oak Hill won all three of the previous regional finals, 16-14 over Dirigo of Dixfield in 2013, 7-6 over Lisbon in 2014 and 21-20 over the Greyhounds last fall.
That compares to the LTC finals, where Bucksport in 2013 and MCI the last three seasons won their regional finals by an average of 33.5 points.
And that’s one of the challenges MCI has had to deal with during its recent run at the top of the LTC standings. While the Huskies have largely dominated their competition, the deeper South/West region has had much more competitive playoff races to prepare its champion for the state games.
Since the shift to four classes, just four of 16 Class D North/East playoff games have been decided by less than 10 points while more than half (13 of 25) Class D South/West postseason games have been decided by single digits.
The South/West champion has gone on to win the state crown each year.
MCI (11-0) hopes to change that Saturday, armed with a potent offense that has scored at least 35 points in every game. Versatile senior quarterback Josh Buker has been a catalyst, with his ability to run adding a new dimension to the Huskies offense this fall — not to mention his eight punt returns for touchdowns.
Buker teams with the running-back tandem of Eli Bussell, Adam Bertrand, Willie Moss and Pedro Moss to provide MCI plenty of weapons for Lisbon to consider.
Lisbon, in search of its first state title since winning back-to-back Class C crowns in 2005 and 2005, is led by the veteran Halls at quarterback. Tight end Tyrese Joseph is a favorite receiving target for the Greyhounds.
Class B
Brunswick Dragons (10-0) vs. Kennebunk Rams (11-0), 7:06 p.m. Friday, University of Maine, Orono: Brunswick returns to the state final for the third-straight year seeking the school’s first state championship since sharing the Class B crown with Madison in 1963. The top-ranked Dragons rolled through their B North competition during the regular season but were severely tested in last week’s regional final — coach Dan Cooper’s club trailed for the first time and punted for the first time all fall before outlasting No. 2 Brewer 14-12 on touchdown runs of 70 and 38 yards by Hunter Garrett. Garrett is part of a deep, speedy set of running backs for Brunswick that also includes Ben Palizay and Jesse Devereaux. Kennebunk played in the first Class B final held at UMaine in 2013, falling to Cony of Augusta 30-23 on a last-minute touchdown pass from Ben Lucas to Jonathan Saban. Coach Joe Rafferty’s Rams flew under the radar for much of the 2016 season until scoring back-to-back victories over two-time defending state champion Marshwood of South Berwick and Biddeford in Weeks 6 and 7. Top-seeded Kennebunk piled up 497 yards of total offense in last weekend’s rematch with No. 2 Biddeford for the B South title, with the Rams outscoring the Tigers 28-7 in the second half for a 42-21 win. Quarterback Tripp Bush and running back Jake Littlefield are among the top offensive threats for the Rams, who are seeking their first state championship since 1991.
Class A
Portland Bulldogs (9-1) vs. Bonny Eagle Scots (10-0), 11:06 a.m. Saturday, Fitzpatrick Stadium, Portland: Both top seeds in their regions advanced with solid victories last weekend. Coach Jim Hartman’s Portland club, back in the final for the second-straight year but seeking the program’s first state crown since 2002, shook off Windham 27-14 in the North title game thanks to a balanced attack featuring quarterback Issiah Bachelder and running back Dylan Bolduc. Bonny Eagle, the winner of five state titles overall, outscored Scarborough 40-20 to win the South championship. Quarterback Cam Day and halfback Alex Sprague are among the key contributors for coach Kevin Cooper’s club, which last won it all in 2013.
