Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

October 22, 2012

High School Notebook: It's crowded at the top in Class B

From staff reports

Marshwood High staked its claim to the No. 1 spot in Western Class B football Saturday afternoon with a resounding 40-20 win over Westbrook, which went into the game ranked first in the Crabtree standings.

But no one was willing to say the Hawks are clear favorites entering the playoffs.

"It looks like there are five to six teams right on top of each other, all very even," said Alex Rotsko, the Hawks' first-year head coach. "Anybody can win it."

Indeed, each of the top five teams can claim a win over another contender.

Marshwood's lone loss was to Wells, which lost to both Westbrook and York. Westbrook's other loss was to Greely, which lost to York.

York lost to Marshwood and Westbrook but beat Greely and Wells.

Marshwood, Westbrook and York finished in a three-way tie for first in the Crabtree standings, but Marshwood got the No. 1 seed based on its head-to-head wins. The Hawks will face Cape Elizabeth in the quarterfinals. Westbrook is No. 2 and will play Fryeburg Academy, No. 3 York takes on Mountain Valley, and No. 4 Greely hosts Wells.

"It's wide open," said Westbrook Coach Jeff Guerette. "It'd be hard to pick a favorite going into the playoffs after Week Eight.

"I think it makes for an exciting league. It's good for a lot of schools, a lot of kids and a lot of communities."

MARSHWOOD SOPHOMORE Brett Gerry had a big game offensively against Westbrook, with 118 rushing yards, a 16-yard reception, two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.

But he also made arguably the two biggest defensive plays of the game.

An outside linebacker, he twice sacked Westbrook quarterback Kyle Heath for big losses in the fourth quarter.

The first sack forced a punt, which led to a Marshwood touchdown. The second sack came on fourth down, giving Marshwood the ball deep in Westbrook territory to set up another touchdown.

"I just got the call that I was blitzing," said Gerry. "Everything else happened from there."

BONNY EAGLE football coach Kevin Cooper has built the Scots into one of the most powerful programs in the state, so it comes as a surprise that they missed the playoffs, finishing 2-6 after a 31-14 loss to Windham.

The Scots played all the best teams in Western Class A and gave some of them their toughest games, leading Thornton Academy in the third quarter, losing to Portland in overtime, and handing undefeated Cheverus one of its most difficult games in a 21-7 loss.

"We don't think of ourselves as 2-6," Cooper said. "I think we played everybody tough. Every game was a close game. We just couldn't seem to get over the hump."

WINDHAM'S DEFENSE almost blew a 17-point lead to Bonny Eagle, but then the Eagles line came up big, making key tackle after key tackle while holding the Scots scoreless in the second half.

Joe and Shawn Francoeur were in on several tackles for losses, along with Brad Carpentier and Brandon Mitchell

"They played very well tonight," Eagles Coach Matt Perkins said. "Those seniors, we were on them all week after a tough loss (34-7 to Sanford) last week. They bounced back."

THE CHARLEY WHITE Trophy is awarded to the most valuable Cheverus player or players in the regular season game against Deering. Quarterback Liam Fitzpatrick and halfback Donald Goodrich received the award after Saturday's 21-0 win.

(Continued on page 2)

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