FREEPORT – Joe Gildard rushed for 177 yards and scored three touchdowns Saturday to lead Old Orchard Beach to a 30-26 victory against Freeport in a Western Class C football game at Pownal Road Field.

Gildard piled up 133 yards on seven carries, and rushed for two touchdowns and caught another in the first half, when Old Orchard grabbed a 27-20 lead.

“Joe is just an exceptional speedster and he made some great reads today,” said Old Orchard Coach Dean Plante. “We hit it up and in and he bounced it, and then it was just pure speed off a good read.

“Joe’s just a good runner.”

The Seagulls (4-1) have won four straight after opening with a lopsided loss to Maranacook.

Old Orchard Beach led 15-14 before Gildard broke free for a 57-yard run that led to his 1-yard scoring rush, making it 21-14.

Freeport (2-3), which lost its third straight, provided a quick answer when Dan Burke, who scored three touchdowns and ran for 107 yards in the first half, scored from 6 yards, making it 21-20.

Gildard ran 61 yards on the next play to make it 27-20 at the half.

“It was a back-breaker,” said Plante. “In terms of confidence and answering their score, I thought it was huge.”

The two sides tightened up defensively in the second half.

Jim Strohm kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Old Orchard a 30-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Ben MacMillan capped a 13-play drive with a 5-yard scoring run, bringing Freeport to 30-26 with 3:15 remaining.

Freeport’s defense rose to the opportunity and put the ball back into the hands of its offense a minute and a half later.

But a fumbled snap recovery by Old Orchard with 58 seconds remaining brought the game to a close.

“We have to build off this,” said Freeport Coach Rob Grover. “Now we really can’t afford to lose a game because then we won’t make the playoffs. We really needed this game.”

Devin Trumpler had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown to account for the Seagulls’ first points of the game.