The Bonny Eagle home-side bleachers started to fill up two hours before kickoff. By the time the game began, close to 4,000 fans packed the available seating and ringed the fence surrounding the field.

While the green-and-white-clad crowd eventually left disappointed, no one departed early, as the football game between Bonny Eagle and Deering proved as entertaining as it was hyped.

Deering overcame a late two-touchdown deficit to shock the Scots 29-28 on Friday night in Standish in a showdown between two top contenders in Western Maine Class A. Deering improved to 6-0 while Bonny Eagle dropped to 4-2, though its other loss came via a forfeit for using an ineligible player at the end of a blowout win against Westbrook.

“I give (Bonny Eagle) a lot of respect,” said Deering linebacker Ernie Salamone. “They weren’t 4-1, they were definitely a 5-0 team. This was a battle of unbeatens. This game was just to tell us where we’ll be playing in November – where these two teams will be playing.”

Salamone helped ensure his Rams will host any playoff rematch. With his team trailing 28-22 with 1:33 to play, Bonny Eagle had a third-and-six situation from its own 41. Scots quarterback Nate Doehler faked a pass and hid the ball on his hip, where running back Josh Ruby was supposed to grab it on a draw play – only a blitzing Salamone got there first.

He plucked the ball from Doehler and gave the Rams the ball on the Bonny Eagle 31. Two plays later, Deering quarterback Jamie Ross found Sam Balzano all alone down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Ross’ point-after kick split the uprights to give Deering its first lead of the night.

Still, the Scots had one last chance. With 1:11 remaining, they took over on their own 12. With several short passes to the sidelines and a couple scrambles, Doehler led Bonny Eagle to the Deering 36. But on the last play of the game, his pass to the end zone was intercepted by Deering safety Jack Heary.

It was the first loss on the field for the Scots, the defending Class A state champs, in two seasons.

“We had the tempo in the first quarter when we came right out and scored,” said Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper. “We had almost a seven-minute drive in the beginning of the second half and they were able to bounce back from that and they took the momentum away from us. Shoot, (Salamone’s) play that forced the fumble, we may have been forced to punt, and they still would have had a good chance of scoring, the way their offense was playing. I’ve got to tip my hat to those guys. Deering played great tonight.”

Heary carried 19 times for 133 yards for the Rams. His 19-yard TD run with 3:23 to go in the fourth quarter capped a 5-play, 43-yard Deering drive. Ross’ pass to Matt Alves for the 2-point conversion made it 28-22, setting up the Rams’ improbable comeback.

The game started on a shaky note for Bonny Eagle, which forced Deering to punt on its first possession, but fumbled on the return, giving the Rams the ball at the Bonny Eagle 11. After an incompletion and a 6-yard run by Heary, the Scots defense dropped Heary for consecutive 5-yard losses to get the ball back.

On their first possession, the Scots marched 86 yards in nine plays as Doehler ran in from a yard out and kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 with 2:35 left in the first.

Deering answered immediately as Balzano returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for the touchdown. Brent Tibbetts blocked Ross’ extra point attempt, so the Scots led 7-6 after a quarter.

Doehler (who ran 18 times for 148 yards and a touchdown and completed 10 of 20 passes for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns) started Bonny Eagle’s first drive of the second quarter with a 29-yard run. He carried again for 7, then hit Joe Davis on a 36-yard TD pass down the left sideline with 10:22 to go in the quarter. Doehler’s kick made it 14-6, which it remained until halftime.

The Scots pounded out a 12-play, 74-yard drive to start the third quarter. Josh Ruby, in his first game back after missing three with a knee injury, carried seven times on the drive, running in from 5 yards out for the touchdown with 5:37 to go in the third. A botched kick left it at 20-6. Ruby finished with 98 yards on 19 carries.

Deering again responded quickly. A 33-yard run by Heary and a 15-yard completion from Ross to John Hardy set up Alves’ 4-yard touchdown run. Ross (8-for-17 passing for 95 yards) hit Salamone on the conversion to make it 20-14 with 3:31 left in the third.

Doehler ran for 27 yards on a third-and-six play from his own 42 to set up Bonny Eagle’s final score. On third-and-10 from the Deering 20, Doehler rolled out and hit Max Alfiero in the left side of the end zone. Ruby’s 2-point conversion rush made it 28-14.

Deering drove all the way to the Bonny Eagle 9 on its next possession, but Wade Severance and Doehler broke up Ross’ attempts on third and fourth down to get the Scots the ball back. They were held three-and-out on their next series, however, and Doehler was forced to punt from his goal line.

Heary’s late TD was made possible by a difficult catch by Alves on third-and-eight from the Scots 41. Alves extended with one hand to reel in Ross’ pass and pick up 17 yards. Two plays later, Heary scored.

With the hands team on in case of an onsides kick, Bonny Eagle nearly fumbled away the ensuing kickoff when Deering kicked it deep. It careened off a Bonny Eagle player, but Doehler was able to come out of the pile with the ball. However, he wasn’t unscathed.

“The hard part on that play when he recovered the kickoff was he got nicked up on his leg,” Cooper said. “We couldn’t run with him on that last series and that obviously affected us a little bit.”

Play of the game

There were a bunch of big ones, but the game wasn’t over until Heary’s interception on the final play.

They said it

Cooper, on Doehler who seemed to be in on every play whether it was offense, defense or special teams: “Nate Doehler, I don’t know if there are adjectives to describe how he plays sometimes. He kept us in it.”

Up next

Bonny Eagle will travel to Portland on Friday night to take on the Bulldogs (2-4) at Fitzpatrick Stadium at 7 p.m. Portland is coming off a 26-7 loss to Cheverus its last time out. The young Bulldogs are led by swift sophomore running back Imadhi Zagon.