Hermon 14, Medomak Valley 8

WALDOBORO- Ethan Curtis tossed a game winning 12-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Coulter almost three minutes into the second quarter on Saturday afternoon, leading the Hermon Hawks to a season opening 14-8 road victory over the Medomak Valley Panthers.

Hermon took the lead for good with 4:55 left in the first quarter on a 61-yard touchdown run by Max Hopkins. Owen Lang caught a two-point conversion pass from Curtis to make it 8-0. Griffin Dunton had an interception and a long return in the opening period as well for the Hawks, that would set up the game winning catch by Coulter from Curtis early in the second. Coulter also had a second interception for Hermon in the stanza, but Hopkins lost a fumble on the first play after change of possession leading to the lone score of the afternoon for Medomak Valley. That was a 19-yard strike from Wyatt Simmons to Gabe Lash with 7.6 seconds left. A pitch pass to Jaydiin Ruiz on the two-point try was also good to make it 14-8 at halftime.

Neither team did much offensively in the second half, as both defenses stiffened even more. Hermon put it away late on the last possession for Medomak that included a sack to sew up the opening week win. The Hawks (1-0) play their home opener next Friday night against Class B opponent Messalonskee, while the Panthers (0-1) will be on the road at Nokomis next Saturday.

Orono 46, MDI 6

ORONO- Jack Brewer tossed four touchdown passes, three to Will Francis, and Kason Bagley added three rushing touchdowns on Friday night as the Orono Red Riots defeated the MDI Trojans in convincing fashion 46-6 in an 8-man football game played at Orono High School.

In a matchup of the defending 8-man state title champions, it was the small school Red Riots striking early to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Brewer completed an outroute pass to Francis, who cut down the far sideline and went 67 yards for a touchdown just 1:31 into the first quarter for an early 6-0 advantage. The second TD pass by Brewer to Francis came early in the second quarter, and was set up by a 25-yard pass to Bagley and a 30-yarder to Francis. Bagley capped off a big Orono first half with touchdown runs of 7 and 13 yards and it was 24-0 at halftime. 

Richie Watson took a screen pass from Brewer 72 yards to the endzone for Orono early in the third quarter, before MDI got their only scoring of the night about 5:30 later on a five-yard TD run by Lincoln Gray. The Red Riots finished the scoring on a 64-yard Brewer to Francis pass later in the third, and a 66-yard TD run by Bagley early in the fourth. 

Orono (2-0) heads back on the road next Friday to face Mt. Ararat, while MDI (1-1) who is the defending large school state champion also take a trip Friday to play at Yarmouth/North Yarmouth Academy.

Hermon 22, Hampden 21

HAMPDEN- Hermon quarterback Ethan Curtis found freshman receiver Griffin Dunton in the back of the endzone for a 7-yard touchdown with 1:44 left in the fourth quarter Friday night, and Sam Hopkins ran in a two-point conversion that sent the Hawks to a dramatic 22-21 win over Hampden Academy to spoil the Broncos homecoming.

Hermon (2-1) opened the scoring after a botched handoff by Hampden was fumbled in Hawks territory, that was recovered and returned 20 yards by Colvin Hamm. A 14-yard touchdown run by Bruce Coulter, and a two-point conversion run made it 8-0 with 2:39 left in the first quarter. The Broncos fought back within a point when Kaysen Wildman scored on a three-yard run with 8:25 left in the second. The Hawks scored again to make it 14-7 when Sam Hopkins spun his way past through the defense and into the endzone on an 11-yard run a little less than five minutes later. The two-point conversion pass failed. Hampden had a chance to cut into the deficit or maybe tie it late in the period. Quarterback Gavin Monyok had two key third and long conversion passes to Wildman and Andrew Henaghen to help keep the drive going, and also added a 16-yard scramble run of his own. They got to the Hermon 8-yard line where Henaghen would miss a 25-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the first half, and it was 14-7 Hawks at the break.

Hampden (2-1) got the ball first out of halftime and would tie it up, as Monyok connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Kochendoerfer. As Hermon was driving deep into Broncos territory with their first offensive possession of the second half trying to take the lead back, Max Hopkins fumbled and turned it over. The hosts took their only lead of the night when Monyok hit Andrew Cote for a 30-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the period. Hampden with a 21-14 advantage would stop the visiting Hawks on fourth and goal at the 1-yard line with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Hermon would come up with a defensive stand to get the ball back that set up the TD pass by Curtis to the freshman Dunton. After Sam Hopkins converted the two-point run to push his team back in front 22-21, the Broncos had one more chance at their own 39-yard line. But Dunton would dash those hopes and finish off his huge fourth quarter by also doing it on the defensive end with a game sealing interception of Monyok. 

Both teams are back in action next Friday night under the lights at 7 p.m., as Hermon will host Nokomis for homecoming and Hampden hits the road to take on Medomak Valley in Waldoboro.