The Wells Warriors rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit on Saturday afternoon, and defeated the Foxcroft Academy Ponies 22-21 in a dramatic ending in the Class D Football State Championship game held at Don Roux Field in Lewiston.
It looked the two-time defending state champions from Foxcroft Academy, who outscored their opponents 497-41 entering Saturday, may roll again in the first half. The Ponies took advantage of three Wells turnovers in the opening 24 minutes by getting touchdown catches of 41 and 28 yards by Silas Topolski and Gage Beaudry respectively from Wyatt Rayfield in the first quarter. The Topolski score came after one of his two first half interceptions, while the one caught by Beaudry was after a fumble on the ensuing kickoff by Wells. A 30-yard touchdown run by Beaudry in the second period made it 21-0 at halftime.
Wells was able to get on the board for the first time with 3:58 left in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by Connor Whitten. The extra point was missed, and Foxcroft still led 21-6. The Ponies had another good drive going after the Warriors scored, but that was thwarted late in the period with 21 seconds left when a Rayfield pass intended for Beaudry near the goal line was tipped by Eli Potter and intercepted by Cody Haynes.
Wells kept the momentum going with that turnover early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Brooks Fox hooked up with Riley Murphy for a big catch to the FA 30-yard line. On 3rd and 10 at the 15, Whitten went 14 yards to the 1 and Potter punched it in for a touchdown on the next play. The Warriors converted the two points on a catch by Dyllan Davis from Fox to cut it to 21-14 with 7:41 left to play. Foxcroft on their ensuing drive got helped by a pair of 15-yard penalties moving the ball to the Wells 27. A 14-yard run by Beaudry had the Ponies in the redzone. On the very next play, Rayfield would fumble the snap and Alex Albright would recover for the Warriors with 6:21 remaining. That would set up the game winning drive. On 3rd and 12 from their own 15, Fox would find Murphy again with another huge second half catch of 30 yards to the 45. A 16-yard run by Whitten and a 13-yard rush by Potter set them up in scoring position. They thought they had that score on the next play after the Potter run when Whitten went in from 13 yards, but that was called back for an illegal chop block. Inside the FA 10 yard line, Wells would pick up a 1st and goal on a facemask penalty against the Ponies. It would come down to 4th and goal from the 3 with 24 seconds to go, and they drew up a perfect play to get into the endzone. Fox would send a screen pass out to Whitten leading him into paydirt with 19 seconds showing on the clock. The Warriors went for the win with the two-point conversion, and Fox would find Whitten in the right corner of the endzone to give Wells the state title.
Rayfield would finish 12-19 passing for 174 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the loss for Foxcroft Academy. Beaudry rushed 12 times for 99 yards and a score, also adding seven receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. Jadon Richard had 11.5 total tackles to lead the defense, while Hunter McSorley had 7.5. Topolski had two interceptions and Finn Holmes had one. The Ponies were looking to become just the fourth team in the modern era to win three straight state titles, ending another great season with a record of 10-1. Fox passed for 185 yards (8 for 15) with one touchdown and three interceptions in the win for Wells. Whitten had 124 yards rushing on 22 attempts with a touchdown, and also had the one big reception at the end of the game for a touchdown and the two-point conversion catch. Murphy came up huge with his five catches for 164 yards. The Warriors finish at 8-3, winning their first championship since 2018. Wells is one of the three teams in modern state history to win three straight titles, winning in Class C in 2016 and then back to back in Class D in 2017 and 2018.
Written by Chris Lessner/Stats provided by Toby Nelson
Photos courtesy of Eric Ogden Photography/Videos courtesy of Marc Calnan
