YORK — Linebacker Brett Gerry and his defensive teammates already had shut down the York rushing game in building a halftime lead. Then Gerry returned his first-ever interception 43 yards for a score early in the second half Saturday and a surprising rout was on.

Third-seeded Marshwood beat the No. 2 Wildcats 45-16 in a Western Class B semifinal.

“I’ve never had an interception before, ever. It was nice to have one,” said Gerry.

Gerry jumped on a quick out route to Daniel Bock, tipping the ball up, then grabbing it away from the Wildcat. He then added a pair of rushing touchdowns after his interception return gave Marshwood (8-2) a 25-0 lead.

York (7-3) trailed 18-0 at the half after gaining just 48 yards and failing to take advantage of six personal fouls against the Marshwood defense. For the game, York was able to muster just 53 rushing yards, eventually abandoning the run.

Ross Hogan did finish 23 of 36 for 203 yards, but threw two interceptions. York committed four turnovers overall, including a fumbled lateral pass on a kick return that set up a 1-yard Gerry touchdown for a 38-8 lead with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

“The second half I thought maybe we would get something going, then Gerry had that tip. We picked the wrong day to have a bad day. They played well. We did not,” York Coach Randy Small said.

Marshwood advanced to the regional final at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at top-ranked Kennebunk (10-0). Kennebunk beat Marshwood, the defending regional champion, 21-14 in Week 4.

“I feel like if we play hard we can really take it to them and we’ll see how the game goes,” Gerry said.

Marshwood had four ballcarriers gain at least 57 yards. Gerry had 87 yards on a team-high 22 carries. Sam Woodman went for 97 on seven carries, including a 76-yard score to give Marshwood a 15-0 lead. Quarterback Luc Blanchette’s 16-yard run put the Hawks on the board in the first quarter. He finished with 57 rushing yards on six carries. Jackson Howarth had 11 carries for 73 yards with a 7-yard touchdown.

Defensively the Hawks’ front four of tackles Brian MacDonald and Beau Blanchette, and ends Tyler Gagnon and Nick Dalecki, were consistently able to shut down the Wildcats inside, holding Sean Kelly to 33 yards on 14 carries, while players like Gerry and linebacker Zach Doyon set the edge and made plays. Doyon also had an interception and a 50-yard return.

“I thought our defense played really well,” Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko said. “They’ve got a couple big backs that just kind of wear you down during a game but I thought our kids held up well, against the run especially.”

Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or at:

scraig@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveCCraig

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