Bonny Eagle received a thrill last week when former New England Patriot tackle Matt Light and ex-Patriot kicker Adam Vinatieri, now with the Colts, called the Scots during their team dinner.

The calls were arranged by booster club president Jarrod McDevitt, who knows Light and Vinatieri.

Light placed a phone call and talked to Isaiah Reynolds at first.

“We wanted to have a left tackle talk to a left tackle,” said Coach Kevin Cooper about giving the phone to Reynolds, a standout two-way tackle who plays the left side on offense.

The Scots put a microphone to the call so the rest of the team could hear. Vinatieri left a phone message that was played by the team.

“I think it’s great that two NFL players would take the time to talk to the players,” said Cooper.

“They also tweeted wishing us good luck in the game,” said Cooper.

The unexpected calls and tweets might have given Bonny Eagle the extra impetus to edge Cheverus 31-28 for the Class A title.

THIS FALL the Maine Principals’ Association has awarded 50 sportsmanship banners to deserving teams.

Prior to the opening game at Fitzpatrick Stadium, the Class A game Saturday, Biddeford received the sportsmanship award for Western Class A and Fryeburg Academy won for Western Class B. Sacopee Valley won for Western Class D prior to the Class D state championship game.

BONNY EAGLE KICKER Isaiah Reynolds hit a 33-yard field goal as the first half expired to give the Scots a 17-14 lead. When the ball dropped over the crossbar by a foot or two, Reynolds jumped up. But it was as he ran toward the sideline that the emotion seemed to overtake the 300-pound lineman.

The more he ran, the more his arms windmilled.

“Oh dude, I’ve never ever kicked a field goal in my whole high school career,” Reynolds said.

“Seriously. That was my first field goal and it felt good to make it, I can tell you that much. To go into halftime with a lead was a big momentum boost.”

As it turned out, Reynolds’ kick matched the point difference in the Scots’ 31-28 win against Eastern champ Cheverus. Both teams finished with a 10-1 record.

As Reynolds celebrated, his teammates were wary of getting in his way.

“Yeah, I’m a big dude,” Reynolds explained.

As important as was his kicking – he was also 5 of 5 on point-afters – Reynolds’ biggest impact was in the middle of the line of scrimmage. Combining with a defensive front that included younger brother Zachary, Lucas Winslow and paced by rugged inside linebacker Brandon Johnson, Bonny Eagle consistently made Cheverus work for its yardage.

Stag star back Joe Fitzpatrick needed 31 carries to gain 117 yards and only once gained more than eight yards.

On offense, Reynolds was in there blocking and leading the way. He only comes out on kick and punt returns.

“All credit to our quarterback and running backs. We’ve got some pretty good skill guys and if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have done this,” Reynolds said.

Bonny Eagle Coach Kevin Cooper knew who he wanted to be the lead blocker on the game-winning 6-yard run by QB Zach Dubiel.

“That’s our best play, our bread-and-butter play, running that play behind Isaiah Reynolds and Brandon Johnson, and that allowed us to get Zach in the end zone,” Cooper said.

RESPECT FOR CHEVERUS: Bonny Eagle knew its championship was made even more special because of the team it had to beat to earn it.

“We had to fight hard the whole time. Cheverus is the best so we definitely had to come through and play hard the whole game and we did that,” Dubiel said.

“When two teams compete as hard as we just competed and we were just lucky enough to come out with a win, it’s a great feeling,” receiver Ben Malloy said.

“We worked real hard to get back and playing Cheverus, which has been the gold standard of Maine high school football. We were honored to be here and even more honored to come out with the win,” Cooper said.

BIG PLAYS vs. GRINDING: Bonny Eagle stayed true to itself by making a bevy of big plays. The Scots had 11 plays of 10 yards or more, including touchdowns of 66, 75 and 53 yards.

Conversely, Cheverus ground out its first three drives, using nine, 16 and 10 plays, then taking advantage of a short field for a three-play, 22-yard go-ahead score.

The Stags ran 23 more plays (59 to 36) but Bonny Eagle held a 387 to 269 edge in total yardage.