On Friday, Sept. 14, Gorham proved they were the better football team on that particular evening in a regular season clash with Deering.

And six weeks later on Friday, Oct. 26, Deering reversed roles and proved they were the better team in their playoff matchup with Gorham.

Fifth-seeded Deering’s 27-14 victory at No. 4 Gorham last week moves the Rams (7-2) into a West A semifinal contest at Bonny Eagle on Saturday. Gorham closes out its 2007 season at 7-2.

These are two very good teams with a lot of the same attributes who really don’t have much of an advantage over the other. Back in September, Gorham outscored Deering in a 50-35 contest where neither team seemed able to stop the other. Friday’s game saw much less scoring with the defenses looking to make big plays to help earn the win.

The first few seconds of Friday’s quarterfinal led many in the large crowd to believe that another high-scoring affair was going to take place. Gorham’s Justin Villacci got that crowd on their feet with a 75-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff and a 6-0 advantage. But the Rams spent the rest of the evening struggling to reach the end zone against a hard-hitting Deering defense.

Deering responded with back-to-back scores from junior tailback Jack Heary to rally past Gorham for a 14-6 lead after one quarter. Heary was a thorn in Gorham’s side all evening as he consistently picked up yardage and made big plays when his team needed him to.

Gorham fought back and marched downfield for their one scoring drove of the game with Villacci busting in from the one to pull within 14-12. An Evan Nash keeper on the two-point conversion tied the game at 14-14, and it appeared that’s how it would stand until the second half

But Deering made good use of the time left on the clock to move the ball into scoring position. The key play was a 34-yard pass completion from quarterback Regan Flaherty to Brad Shafran that got the ball inside the Gorham five. Flaherty then connected with Heary for a four-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half and a 21-14 lead.

“That puts us behind instead of a tie game going in to halftime. That was huge,” said Gorham coach Dave Kilborn about Deering’s third touchdown of the game.

An inspired Deering defense forced a three-and-out on Gorham’s first possession of the second half and the Rams were forced to punt. Deering mishandled that kick, but Tommy MacDuff alertly pounced on the loose football and Deering kept control. Gorham certainly could have used that turnover at that particular moment.

“We needed to have a break go our way and when you play good teams you have to create your own breaks,” said Kilborn.

Deering drove the ball to the Gorham 24 before a fourth down pass attempt by Flaherty was knocked away from his receiver by Gorham defensive back Duncan Allen.

Gorham needed something positive to happen on offense, but it was not meant to be. Their next three possessions were ended by two interceptions and a fumble. Deering sealed the win with another touchdown toss from Flaherty to Heary for a 27-14 lead with 2:12 to play in the game. Deering recovered a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff and they patiently ran out the clock, never allowing Gorham another chance with the football.

“I think they did job of coming out here and showing us and the rest of the people here that they can play football. They were hungry,” said Kilborn. “We shot ourselves in the foot a lot. That doesn’t take anything away from them (Deering). The teams we’ve lost to over the years have been great teams.”

“They came to win. We thought we could just go out there and go through the motions – it just wasn’t happening,” said Gorham senior Shawn Connolly. “Tonight the better team won. That’s pretty much all you can say. It’s the playoffs and anything can happen.”