Greely’s Andrew Padgett, front right, celebrates his game-sealing interception against Mt. Ararat with head coach Caleb King. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record

TOPSHAM — The Greely football team had not punted all season going into Saturday’s eight-man Large School battle against Mt. Ararat. By converting two fourth-and-long plays in the fourth quarter, the Rangers showed why that hasn’t been necessary.

“You can’t win if you don’t have the ball. That’s the way we look at it,” Greely Coach Caleb King said after the Rangers’ 30-26 victory.

Facing fourth-and-11 near midfield, sophomore quarterback Luke Piper found Benjamin Kyles on a deep crossing route from a 48-yard touchdown. The duo connected again for a 2-point conversion, giving the Rangers a four-point lead with 9:21 left.

The aggressive play calling did not ease up. A few minutes later on fourth-and-14 from their own 43, the Rangers faked a punt, with Piper taking the snap and unleashing a 45-yard pass to a wide-open Kyles. The Mt. Ararat defense held from there, though, forcing a turnover on downs as the Eagles took over at their own 4 with 3:19 to go.

Mt. Ararat quarterback Trent Bailey threw five straight short completions, chipping away at the Rangers’ defense and bringing the Eagles near midfield. The drive ended when Greely’s Andrew Padgett intercepted a deep ball, and the Rangers were able to kill the clock.

“(Mt. Ararat) is a good team, and we really needed this game,” Padgett said. “We came into it thinking it was a playoff game, so we got it done.”

With one week remaining in the eight-man Large School regular season, Greely (6-1) is tied for second place in the Crabtree standings, just behind top-ranked Camden Hills. Mt. Ararat (5-2) sits in fourth place. The top two seeds earn byes in the playoffs.

Padgett started the scoring with a 65-yard keeper on the second play of the game. The senior quarterback rushed 12 times for 86 yards and completed one pass for 9 yards. Piper completed 6 of 12 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns, including a 9-yarder to his brother, Wes Piper, in the second quarter. Running back Ben McCarron also scored in the second quarter, giving the Rangers a 22-12 halftime advantage with a 10-yard run.

Running back Dash Farrell (19 carries, 117 yards) scored three times for Mt. Ararat before leaving in the third quarter because of an injury. After Farrell’s final offensive snap, a 40-yard broken tackle touchdown, Aidan Ramsay recovered a fumble on the kickoff. Three plays later, Nick Doughty (20 rush, 152 yards) gave the Eagles the lead with 5:18 left in the third quarter.