WINDHAM — George Chaison-Lapine knew from the numbers who was favored Saturday afternoon.

His Portland High team had lost to Cheverus 41-3 in the season opener, and Windham beat Cheverus 35-7.

So what were the Bulldogs doing, going toe-to-toe on the Eagles’ field?

“I’ve never been so fired up,” Chaison-Lapine said. “We came to play and that’s what counted.”

Portland put in quite a defensive effort to upset Windham, 12-6. Portland improved to 4-2, while Windham (5-1) suffered its first loss.

“Teams click at different times,” Portland quarterback Jordan Talbot said. “We clicked after that Cheverus game. We decided we wanted to work together and win games.”

Talbot scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run with 9:56 left. The touchdown was set up by Chaison-Lapine’s 45-yard run.

The Bulldogs also got two John Williams field goals, from 40 yards in the second quarter and 22 yards in the third.

Kyle Houser’s 60-yard opening kickoff return set up Desmond Leslie’s fourth-down, 27-yard touchdown pass to Eric Webb as Windham grabbed an early 6-0 lead. The snap on the extra point was not handled cleanly and the Eagles did not get a kick off.

That was it for Windham’s scoring, despite having first-and-goal at the 1 late in the first half. The Eagles were stopped for no gain and a 2-yard loss on back-to-back runs, then threw two incomplete passes.

“Everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Portland Coach Jim Hartman said. “You hear (Bill) Belichick all the time: ‘do your job.’ We did our job today.”

Portland took the second-half kickoff and drove to the 5 before settling for Williams’ tying field goal.

After the teams traded punts, Domenic Fagone’s interception gave Portland the ball on its own 42.

On second down, Chaison-Lapine got the ball on an inside reverse and sprinted to daylight.

“It’s something you like to pull out when nobody’s expecting it,” said Chaison-Lapine, who was finally tackled at the Windham 11.

On third down from the 3, Talbot scored on a quarterback draw – the first touchdown given up by Windham in 10 quarters.

The Eagles reached the Portland 12 but lost yardage on two runs and then threw two incompletions.

Their last drive ended with a Dylan Bolduc interception at the Portland 35 with 1:32 to go.

“We just didn’t finish,” Eagles Coach Matt Perkins said. “We had it right in front of us and didn’t execute.

“We had some injuries (running back Dylan Koza and receiver/defensive back Tanner Laberge), and we’ve got to be better at adjusting to that.”

Windham outgained Portland 264-231, led by Leslie’s 121 passing yards. Portland was paced by backs Chaison-Lapine (74 yards) and Joe Esposito (58). Talbot passed for 47 yards and rushed for 35.

The Bulldogs, who also lost to Bangor in a heartbreaking 28-27 overtime decision, may not be a top seed in the playoffs, but they now can’t be ignored.

“They responded very well,” Hartman said of his players. “When they lost that Bangor game, they just got mad. They didn’t drop their shoulders.”

 

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