FAIRFIELD – The Brunswick High football team’s nickname is the Dragons, but for the second year in a row, the Dragons were the slayers at Keyes Field.

After spotting Lawrence a 13-point lead in the first half, Brunswick’s offense rallied and its defense stiffened. The result was a 14-13 victory for the eighth-seeded Dragons over the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Bulldogs in Eastern Class A.

Brunswick (6-3) will play No. 4 Lewiston (7-2) in the semifinals.

“They came in and really played hard. We didn’t feel they were really a No. 8 seed team, if there is one, coming into the game. We knew we were going to have a tough challenge,” Lawrence Coach John Hersom said.

Last season, Brunswick visited Lawrence and beat the Bulldogs in the conference semifinals.

“We came out here, we played a great game. We knew we were going to go hard, as hard as we can, and that’s exactly what we did,” Brunswick running back Keith Kitchens said.

Kitchens ran for 142 yards on 21 carries, but it was his arm that gave the Dragons the lead in the third quarter. On third-and-8 at the Lawrence 34-yard line, Kitchens fired a perfect halfback-option pass to wide-open Donald Benbow for a touchdown. Jason Carter’s extra point gave Brunswick a 14-13 lead with 1:45 left in the third.

“We’ve run it a few times, once or twice, and it hasn’t really worked. That’s the first time it’s (been successful),” Kitchens said.

“We knew they were going to be aggressive trying to stop us with their free safety,” said Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper. “We said all week we figured we’d have a shot at that at some point during the game. We just finally executed it.”

Lawrence had chances to take control of the game but lost four fumbles, including two inside the Brunswick 10. Lawrence’s opening drive ended at the Dragons’ 5 when Blair Blaisdell fumbled.

After Brunswick scored to take the lead, Bryant Wade caught a 10-yard pass from Spencer Carey, broke away from the defense, and appeared to be going in for a touchdown. But Wade fumbled and lost the ball at the Brunswick 2.

Lawrence also fumbled away a kickoff, and Brunswick’s winning touchdown was set up when the Bulldogs muffed a punt.

“We had some unfortunate things not go our way. Some of the turnovers were definitely costly,” Hersom said.

Dominant against the run all season, Lawrence couldn’t get the Brunswick offense off the field. The Dragons controlled the ball for approximately 34 minutes.

 

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