Brady LaFrance is always waiting in the wings to play quarterback for Oxford Hills High. When starter Matt Smith was removed for a series because of a bout with asthma, LaFrance passed to a wide-open Ian Lejonhud for a 79-yard gain to the Deering 1 on the next- to-last play of the third quarter Friday night.

Oxford Hills scored two plays later, a pass from LaFrance to Patrick Macro, and went on to beat Deering 21-9 in an Eastern Class A football game at Memorial Field.

Additional Images

Kahlil Brown of Deering is grabbed by Jon Blake of Oxford Hills while attempting to gain yardage in their Eastern Class A game Friday night. Oxford Hills earned a 21-9 victory. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer

The game matched a pair of 2-3 teams competing for playoff spots, and the Vikings felt they secured theirs.

“This is a huge win,” said LaFrance, who also had an interception. “This team is growing together. I’ve always played quarterback growing up, but (Smith) got the starting job before our first game. I went in and played a little last week against Portland.”

The Vikings used strong running in the first half, led by Davis Turner, who finished with 173 yards on 20 carries in the first half.

His 69-yard run late in the first quarter staked the Vikings to a 14-0 lead. Turner hurt his hand and didn’t play on offense in the second half, although he remained on the field on defense.

Without Turner as an offensive threat, Deering was open to gang up on stopping the Vikings’ other top runner, Malik Geiger, who had the first touchdown on a 20-yard run.

Deering (2-4) grabbed the moment in the second half after Jacob Coon booted a 33-yard field goal to cut Oxford Hills’ lead to 14-9 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the kickoff, Oxford Hills knocked it out of bounds at its own 21. Deering was ready to pounce, but instead it was the Vikings who capitalized.

LaFrance found a wide-open Lejonhud down the sideline, and he nearly took it all the way before being stopped at the 1 with time winding down in the quarter.

“We noticed Deering hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to that side of the field so we went with the play,” said Oxford Hills Coach Mark Soehren. “We would have called the play regardless who was in at quarterback. (LaFrance) did it but (Smith) could have done it.

“Our goal all season has been to reach .500 and get into the playoffs. This win gets us into the playoffs.

“We’re a running team and Davis Turner is one of the top players in Eastern Maine.”

It was a crucial game for both teams, but particularly for the Vikings, who face the iron of the league in their last two games, taking on Windham and Bangor.

After Deering dropped Geiger for a 1-yard loss on first down, the teams moved to the other end for the start of the fourth quarter.

Deering was hoping it could make another defensive stand. At the end of the first half the Rams stopped Oxford Hills on fourth-and-3 inside the 5 to keep the score at 14-6. Defensive end Raffaele Salamone broke through to drop Turner for no gain.

But this time LaFrance deftly faked a handoff and threw to a wide-open Macro for the touchdown. Ryland VanDecker booted the point after to make it 21-9.

Deering still had plenty of time to come back, and with its passing attack that was certainly a possibility. But the Rams came up empty on their last four possessions. Two ended with interceptions – one by LaFrance and the other an over-the-shoulder pick by Caleb Jewell.

Deering also was plagued by penalties throughout.

Trailing 14-0, Deering scored on a 38-yard pass play from quarterback Max Chabot to Coon, whose PAT hit the right upright and bounded away.

Chabot, the leading passer in Eastern Class A, completed 14 of 29 passes for 160 yards.

Deering had won its previous two games after opening with three losses.

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