BRUNSWICK — The first half couldn’t have gone any better for Brunswick High’s football team. As a result, the Dragons are going back to the Class B football state championship game.
Thomas Hanson threw four touchdown passes in the first half as top-seeded Brunswick routed No. 3 Brewer 49-0 in the Class B North championship game. The Dragons, who lost to Brewer 34-27 in the regular season, led 42-0 at the half.
“Absolutely,” Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper said when asked if that was the best first half his team had ever played. “Lights out on defense. The passing game was on.”
Brunswick (9-1) will play Marshwood or Falmouth in the state championship game next Saturday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium. The Dragons lost to Marshwood in the state final last year.
“It says a lot about the kids,” said Cooper. “They’re very hard workers and this was their goal from Day 1. You know, we lost to Marshwood in the state final last year, and they were ready to go the next day to get back here.”
Brewer lost star quarterback Logan Rogerson – who threw three touchdown passes in the Witches’ regular-season win over Brunswick – to an injury in the late in the first quarter with Brunswick already leading 14-0. That didn’t help, but on this night the Dragons weren’t going to be denied. Even when a Brunswick back was hit in the backfield, he would break the tackle and gain positive yardage.
“We came in wanting to avenge that one loss,” said Hanson, who was 5 of 7 for 128 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. “Our running backs really ran hard.”
Brunswick gambled on its first drive of the game, picking up a first down on a fake punt from the Brewer 39 when Jaznel Burns gained 14 yards. That set up the first score, a 17-yard run by Will Bessey. Alex Larson then kicked the first of his seven PATs.
The Dragons forced a punt, which Hunter Garrett returned 44 yards to the Brewer 24. On first down, Hanson threw a touchdown pass to Corban Teel and it was 14-0.
The Witches then got two first downs but stalled and faced fourth-and-5 at the Brunswick 40. They went for it, but Rogerson was swarmed for a 14-yard loss and was injured.
“Down two touchdowns, we were still in the game,” said Brewer Coach Nick Arthers. “We had just run a couple of nice plays, but their defense stepped up.
“(Rogerson was) a big playmaker for us all year. It was a tough loss.”
It took Brunswick three plays to score, on a 34-yard pass from Hanson to a wide-open Teel. It was 21-0 after one quarter.
Jesse Devereaux then broke an 84-yard touchdown run on Brunswick’s next drive. Hanson threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Gordon on the Dragons’ next series, then threw an 18-yard TD pass to Gordon with 14 seconds left in the first half to make it 42-0.
“It was pretty obvious they were all-in to stop Bessey,” said Cooper. “It seemed like any time we gave the ball to someone else, or threw a play-action pass, everyone was open or getting big chunks.
“I just have a lot of confidence in Thomas Hanson. He’s pretty good back there. He sees the field well. He always seems to hit someone in the hands, open or not.”
The only downside to the victory was when Bessey suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter. Cooper said he didn’t know the extent but that “it doesn’t look good.”
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