BUCKSPORT, Maine — It took the Bucksport High School football team three overtimes to beat Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln back on Sept. 8 (48-42).
It didn’t take nearly that long on Friday night.
Record-setting senior quarterback Chase Carmichael threw three touchdown passes, all in the first half, and junior running back Carter Tolmasoff amassed 257 all-purpose yards as the Golden Bucks built a three-score halftime lead and cruised to a 49-6 victory in their Class D North semifinal at Carmichael Field.
Second seed Bucksport (6-3) will visit top seed Foxcroft Academy (7-2) for the regional title next Friday night. Foxcroft beat the Bucks 45-14 on Sept. 22 at Dover-Foxcroft.
Mattanawcook Academy wound up 6-4.
Carmichael ran three yards for the game-opening touchdown to cap a 10-play, 79-yard drive after the opening kickoff and give the Bucks a lead they would never relinquish.
He tossed a 30-yard TD pass to Keigan Riccard with 3:37 left in the first quarter to expand the lead to 14-0 and, after MA’s Diondre Duffy finished off an eight-play, 72-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run, Carmichael hooked up with Tolmasoff on a 27-yard TD strike with 9:53 left in the second period and on a 22-yarder to Logan Stanley 6:49 later.
The 21-point halftime lead was too much to overcome for the run-oriented Lynx.
Carmichael, who threw for 1,573 yards during the regular season, completed 11 of 13 passes in the first half for 177 yards. He was 1-for-6 in the second half for 11 yards.
He also ran for a two-point conversion to close out the scoring late in the fourth quarter.
Tolmasoff, a wide receiver by trade, was inserted into the backfield to replace the ailing Lucas Wardwell (mononucleosis). He rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns and caught six passes for 94 yards including the TD. He also returned a punt for nine yards.
Tolmasoff ran 33 yards for a touchdown on the Bucks’ first possession of the second half after offensive tackle/nose guard David Gross extended the drive by picking up eight yards on a fake punt. The Bucks were in a fourth-and-7 situation.
Tolmasoff added TD runs of nine and 26 yards.
Carmichael completed four of five passes on the game’s opening drive for 43 yards including a 20-yarder to a wide-open Tolmasoff on a fourth-and-3 play at the MA 30.
The Bucks extended the lead with a three-play, 57-yard drive as Carmichael threw a strike to Riccard down the right sideline.
The Lynx answered with their only scoring march which covered 72 yards on nine plays.
Quarterback Dominic Libbey rolled to his left and floated a 40-yard pass to Kristofer Milner to keep the drive moving on third-and-5 at the MA 33.
He also completed a 12-yarder to Lucas Cropley to pick up a first down at the 2-yard line before Duffy ran it in on the next play.
But the MA momentum was short-lived as Carmichael completed three consecutive passes to complete a five-play, 52-yard drive, the last one going to Tolmasoff.
A holding penalty negated a Cropley interception for MA and Carmichael capitalized a few minutes later when he scrambled to his right, regained his balance after slipping on the wet turf and found freshman Stanley in the right corner of the end zone.
Riccard finished with three catches for 56 yards and Stanley had two for 33 yards.
The Buck defense turned in a superb performance, holding Mattanawcook Academy to 189 total yards. Libbey was MA’s leading rusher with 55 yards on 14 carries. He went 4-for-14 through the air for 84 yards.
The Bucks controlled the line of scrimmage and were able to limit MA’s standout 1,000-yard rusher Matthew Young to 31 tough yards on 14 carries.
Brady Pepin had a pair of long kickoff returns for the Lynx, including a 30-yarder.