FALMOUTH — There is nothing Greely defensive end Paul Buchanan loves more than rushing the passer. In the fourth quarter, he knew Falmouth would be passing nearly every down.
“Even in practice it’s my favorite thing,” Buchanan said. “As soon as we know they’re going to pass, I kind of let loose and I know the other guys do, too.”
Buchanan added two late sacks to go with a game-changing punt block late in the third quarter to help sixth-seeded Greely stun third-ranked Falmouth 20-7 in a Class B South football quarterfinal on a wet, windy Friday night.
Greely (6-3) advanced to next weekend’s semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 2 Biddeford (7-1) and No. 7 York (3-5), postponed from Friday night.
Falmouth (6-3) beat Greely 14-0 on this same field six days earlier.
“After that loss we were all down,” said fullback Tim Coyle. “(The) Route 9 (rivalry) is a big deal to us. We didn’t want to lose to them twice. It just feels great to put it to them and end their season and move on to the next game.”
Falmouth led 7-6 at halftime and opened the third quarter with a lengthy drive to the Greely 3 before consecutive penalties (delay of game, illegal motion) helped prevent a score. Consecutive passes on third and fourth down fell incomplete, and Greely took over.
The Rangers went nowhere and were forced to punt from their end zone. But Falmouth fumbled the return and Shane DeWolfe of Greely recovered at the 24. After another Falmouth penalty (offside), Joe Casella of Greely broke off a 58-yard run before taking it in from the 3 for a 12-7 lead.
“Joey had a heck of a game,” said quarterback Nick Gauvin, whose downfield block allowed Casella another 20 yards. “He ran the hardest I’ve ever seen him run. And the (offensive) line stepped up big time. That’s the best I’ve ever seen them play.”
Falmouth couldn’t manage a first down on its next series, and Buchanan burst through the left side to block the punt. One play later, Casella ran off left tackle 19 yards without being touched. Coyle bulled in for the 2-point conversion to make it 20-7 with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.
Falmouth had three more possessions, but throwing into a stiff wind in the fourth quarter proved difficult and Greely sacked quarterback Jack Bryant four times. Naveen Caron also picked off a pass.
“Everyone was getting in there,” Buchanan said. “It wasn’t just me.”
Casella finished with 108 yards on 17 carries. Coyle added 32 on 10. Bryant completed 12 of 23 passes for 130 yards and ran for another 61 yards on 16 carries.
Garrett Aube put Falmouth ahead 7-0 on a 24-yard run and took care of the PAT kick himself with four minutes left in the half. Greely responded with a 57-yard completion from Gauvin to Nolan Anderson, who was sprung by a block from DeWolfe. That set up a 1-yard sneak by Gauvin to make it 7-6.
“Football is a very humbling sport,” said Falmouth Coach John Fitzsimmons. “I felt really good with that long drive. I felt we’ll punch it in, we’ll (extend) the lead … but it just plain went wrong. And when it went wrong, it was really problematic for us.”
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