Wells players celebrate their win against Oak Hill in the Class D South football final on Friday. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald
WELLS — This time, underdog Oak Hill couldn’t hang around long enough to pull an upset.
Undefeated Wells was too strong, as Payton MacKay and Tyler Bridge combined for nearly 400 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, after Oak Hill quarterback Gavin Rawstron suffered a game-ending wrist injury on the first play from scrimmage.
The combination resulted in a 54-6 victory for top-seeded Wells in a rainy Class D South final Friday night.
Wells’ Payton MacKay (34) runs down the sideline on his way into the end zone in the first half of the Class D South final against Oak Hill on Friday. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald
It was the 27th straight win for Wells (11-0), which has yet to lose since dropping from Class C to Class D before last season. The Warriors are seeking their third consecutive state championship.
“This is what we do, and we’re going to work our butts off to get to this level, and so far it’s worked,” said Wells head coach Tim Roche.
The Warriors will face Foxcroft Academy or Bucksport in the state championship game next Friday night in Orono.
Wells won Class C in 2016 and beat Foxcroft in the 2017 Class D final.
“We’re experienced, so that helps a lot, knowing how to stay calm and finish off the season,” Bridge said.
No. 7 Oak Hill finishes 5-6 after overtime playoff upsets of No. 2 Lisbon and No. 6 Madison/Carrabec.
Bridge entered the game with 2,011 yards and 33 touchdowns on the ground. He contributed again — four touchdowns and 121 rushing yards — but it was MacKay’s night to shine.
Switched to fullback in midseason after a Matt Tufts knee injury (Tufts is back in action and dominated at defensive end Friday), MacKay has seven touchdown runs and more than 460 rushing yards in the last two games. Friday night, he showed strength and balance on a slippery field, and breakaway speed as he gained 269 yards on nine carries, with TD runs of 30, 59 and 50 yards.
“They moved me to fullback and everything has just been working perfectly,” MacKay said. “The line is making the holes. I see it quick and I hit it.”
Oak Hill’s Samuel Lindsay (14) is taken down by a group of Wells players during the first half on Friday. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald
Rawstron was injured at the end of a 32-yard run. Oak Hill reached first-and-goal at the 6, but a fumbled exchange on second down was recovered by Nate Curtis of Wells. MacKay set up Bridge’s first score with a 73-yard run on the next play.
“Wrist injury. It’s probably broken,” said Oak Hill Coach Stacen Doucette. “It impacted the game plan a lot. We did the best that we could. We just lost to a good team.”
Wells built a 20-0 lead before Samuel Lindsay put Oak Hill on the board with a 1-yard run. Lindsay took over as quarterback and had 20 carries in the first half for 70 yards.
Wells responded with TD runs from Bridge (3 yards) and MacKay (59 yards) before halftime and put the game away by scoring on its first two plays of the second half — a 50-yard run by MacKay and a 32-yarder by Bridge.
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