A pair of local football teams are still chasing a Gold Ball.
Everyone else has moved on to winter.
Here’s a recap of the week that was:
Eight is enough
Mt. Ararat’s football team shows off the championship plaque after winning the large division title last Friday at Maranacook. Joe Phelan / Kennebec Journal
Mt. Ararat’s eight-man football squad won the Large Division title last weekend with a 36-14 win at Maranacook.
The Eagles, playing their first season at the eight-man level, lost both regular season meetings against the Black Bears, but the third time was the charm, as Mt. Ararat opened up a 22-0 lead and after Maranacook drew within one score, put it away with two more touchdowns.
Holden Brannan ran 26 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns and Riley Morin ran 20 times for 83 yards and two scores.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Brannan said. “We knew that. We knew it was going to be a grind.”
“We realized we had nothing to lose,” Morin said. “We have a lot of seniors who only had 48 minutes of football left if we didn’t win.”
The Eagles (8-2) will face Small Division champion Old Orchard Beach (7-3) Saturday at 2 p.m., at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland in the eight-man state championship game. Back on Oct. 5, Mt. Ararat handled the visiting Seagulls, 46-8. The Eagles have never played in or won a football state game.
More of the same
Brunswick’s Owen Richardson seeks running room during the Dragons’ 44-29 victory over Skowhegan in last Friday’s Class B North semifinal round playoff contest. Eric Maxim / Times Record
The Brunswick football team, meanwhile, is no stranger to championship games and Friday, the Dragons will once again take part in the Class B North Final. Last weekend, top-ranked Brunswick outlasted No. 5 Skowhegan, 44-29, in the semifinals to improve to 10-0.
Skowhegan hung tough throughout, tying the score at 7-7 and 14-14 and after the Dragons opened up a 36-14 advantage, fought back within seven before a late Brunswick touchdown put it away. Owen Richardson had 208 rushing yards and three scores and Noah Goddard ran for a touchdown, threw for another and had a key interception late to seal the victory.
“Skowhegan was much better this time around,” Goddard said. “We may have not taken them so serious early on, but we turned it around and we kept our season going.”
Friday, Brunswick will host No. 3 Lawrence (9-1) in the regional final. The Dragons won the regular season meeting, 50-21, Sept. 27 at Lawrence.
If Brunswick advances to the state final, Saturday, Nov. 23 at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, it will play either defending champion Marshwood or Kennebunk.
Regional final blues
Brunswick’s David Nzuzi plays the ball during last week’s 3-1 loss to Lewiston in the Class A North Final.
Brunswick’s boys’ soccer team made it to the Class A North Final, but lost last Tuesday to two-time defending state champion Lewiston, 3-1, to finish the year 14-2-1. Alfonso Miguel had the Dragons’ lone goal.
“These guys played their hearts out,” Brunswick coach Mark Roma said. “ We wanted to come out and take the opportunities we got, That was the real difference tonight, we had opportunities, but we couldn’t take care of them.”
“The future is bright for Brunswick soccer. I wish we could go back out there tomorrow. That’s the saddest part.”
One final run
Mt. Ararat’s Lisandro Berry-Gaviria, shown in a file photo, was the top Maine male finisher at Saturday’s New England cross country championship meet in Manchester, Connecticut.
Mt. Ararat’s Lisandro Berry-Gaviria was Maine’s first boys’ finisher at the New England cross country championship meet for the second year in a row, placing fourth in 15 minutes, 42 seconds Saturday in Manchester, Connecticut. Berry-Gaviria’s result was the best by a Maine boy since Telstar’s Josef Holt-Andrews placed third in 2013. Brunswick’s Will Shaughnessy finished sixth in 15:45, leading the Dragons to a 15th-place finish in the team standings – tops among Maine squads.
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