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.

Foxcroft 35, Winslow 3

WINSLOW- Griffin Caruso threw for three touchdown passes on Saturday afternoon, with two of them going to Lucas Sands as the Foxcroft Academy Ponies rolled to a 35-3 Class D North football victory over the Winslow Black Raiders at Jerry Poulin Memorial Field.

Foxcroft took the opening kickoff and marched down the field in just 57 seconds, with Caruso finding Sands for the first time with a 33-yard touchdown connection. Caruso also had a 16-yard scoring pass to Silas Topolski right at the end of the first quarter. Winslow (2-1) had a good drive going with five minutes left in the second, getting to the Ponies 26-yard line but turned it over on downs. That led to Caruso finding Sands again for a 54-yard touchdown with just 18.4 seconds left, and it was 20-0 at the halftime break.

Winslow got on the scoreboard for the only time with 6:34 left in the third quarter on a Hassan Hobbi 25-yard field goal. Foxcroft finished the scoring on a 75-yard touchdown run by Finn Holmes just 19 seconds after the Hobbi field goal, and a 24-yard run by Aiden Harvey in the fourth quarter. Harvey also had a third quarter interception, and the Ponies recovered two Black Raider fumbles as well in the second half.

Foxcroft is now 3-0 and will host Mattanawcook next Friday night at 7 p.m. in a contest that can be seen on Eastern Maine Sports Media (YouTube) with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:45, while Winslow plays under the lights next Saturday at 7 p.m. with a road contest at Lisbon. 

Foxcroft Academy 20, Mattanawcook Academy 6

DOVER-FOXCROFT- Landon Smith ran for a pair of touchdowns on Friday night, in leading the Foxcroft Academy Ponies to a 20-6 Class D homecoming football win over the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx at Oakes Field.

It was a real defensive battle most of the night, especially in the first half. Mattanawcook (2-2) was able to move the ball really well in the first quarter, but Silas Topolski came up with an interception in the endzone for Foxcroft on a fourth down play for the Lynx with 6:49 left in that opening period in a scoreless game. The Ponies finally broke the ice when Smith scored for the first time on the night on a 5-yard run with 5:39 left in the first half. Mattanawcook came up with an interception of Griffin Caruso with 4:03 left in the second quarter, and the score would remain 7-0 FA at the halftime break. 

Foxcroft scored just 1:34 into the third quarter on the opening possession of the second half, as Smith again got into the endzone on a 5-yard run to extend the advantage to 14-0. After the Ponies forced a turnover on downs, Caruso was picked off for a second time as freshman Ryan Thibodeau made a great play for the Lynx near midfield. That led to the lone touchdown for Mattanawcook, as Austen Jipson found paydirt on a run of 3 yards with 31.3 seconds remaining in the period. A 16-yard run on fourth down on a quarterback scramble by Harper Jenkins led to the TD by Jipson. The extra point however failed, and it was 14-6. Finn Holmes capped all the scoring on the night when he scored on an 11-yard run for the hosts with 10:37 left to play in the game. Lucas Sands helped seal things with an interception about two minutes later to keep the Ponies unbeaten.

Both teams are back in action next Friday night at 7 p.m. Foxcroft (4-0) will hit the road to battle Hermon, while Mattanawcook hosts Madison.

Foxcroft Academy 17, Hermon 0

HERMON- The Foxcroft Academy Ponies used a strong second half Friday night at Pottle Field, and stayed unbeaten with a 17-0 high school football victory over the Hermon Hawks.

In a matchup of the two top teams in Class C and D North, it was a very defensive first half. Hermon had their best chance to score with their first possession of the night, getting to the Foxcroft 11-yard line. That included a 26-yard pass from quarterback Ethan Curtis to Sam Hopkins on a fourth down play. The Ponies defense stiffened however, and would force a turnover on downs. The guests then tried to crack the scoreboard in the final two minutes of the second quarter, helped by a 39-yard pass from quarterback Griffin Caruso to wide receiver Lucas Sands who made an outstanding leaping catch to the Hawks 27-yard line. Just two plays later though, Hermon freshman Griffin Dunton intercepted a Caruso pass intended for Sands near the goal line to keep it 0-0 headed into halftime. 

Foxcroft broke the ice early in the third quarter, again on a long completed pass by Caruso to the Hermon 25-yard line. Finn Holmes took the handoff on the very next play for a 25-yard touchdown run with 7:53 remaining in the period to make it 7-0 Ponies. They would add a 25-yard Aiden Harvey field goal with 4:59 left in the game, and then Thomas Day had a diving interception of a Curtis pass along the sideline. Harvey made the turnover hurt as he helped cap the win with a 39-yard run to get into the redzone, and finished the scoring with a 7-yard run with 3:07 remaining. Silas Topolski added a late interception to help Foxcroft improve to 5-0 on the season.

Both teams are back in action next Friday night. Hermon (3-2) is at Brewer to take on the Witches at 6 p.m., while Foxcroft will host the Nokomis Warriors at 7 p.m. in a contest that can be seen live on Eastern Maine Sports Media (YouTube) with the pre-game beginning at 6:45. 

Foxcroft 20, Nokomis 14

DOVER-FOXCROFT- Foxcroft Academy rushed for 247 yards and Silas Topolski scored a game winning third quarter touchdown Friday night, as the Ponies would slip past the Nokomis Warriors 20-14 in high school football action at Oakes Field.

Landon Smith opened the scoring on a 15-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and then in the second Foxcroft extended their lead after Aidan Bryant blocked a punt deep in Nokomis territory. The Ponies capped that short drive with a 12-yard TD run by Finn Holmes to make it 14-0. The Warriors got on the board with a trick play in the final seconds of the first half. Quarterback Gabe Leighton handed it off to running back Seth Bowden, and Bowden acted like he would run with it but instead stopped and threw it to Jeff Carr in the left corner of the endzone for a 25-yard score. The extra point failed and it was 14-6 at halftime. 

Topolski scored the eventual game winner in the third quarter off a pitch pass from quarterback Griffin Caruso that went for a 33-yard touchdown. A Bowden 4-yard scoring run and a two-point conversion for Nokomis did cut it a six point deficit in the fourth, but would end the scoring on the night. The Warriors had one more chance after stopping Foxcroft on a fourth down and goal to go with just over two minutes left, but on a fourth down of their own Leighton was intercepted by Thomas Day that sealed the Ponies victory. Both teams had chances to put up more points throughout the game, but there were a total of eight turnovers with each committing four of them.

Holmes and Smith both ran for over 100 yards in the win for 6-0 Foxcroft Academy. They'll host Old Town on Senior Night next Friday in a contest can be seen on Eastern Maine Sports Media (YouTube) with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. Carr had a touchdown and also two interceptions on defense for Nokomis (2-4). The Warriors will host Skowhegan next Saturday at 1 p.m. 

Class D semifinal- Foxcroft 29, Old Town 0

DOVER-FOXCROFT- Finn Holmes ran for two touchdowns, while Landon Smith and Griffin Caruso also added scores on the ground Friday night as Foxcroft Academy rolled past Old Town 29-0 in a Class D North football semifinal game played at Oakes Field. The Ponies advance to the North Regional Final for a third straight season.

Old Town tried an onside kick to begin the action on the night, but the ball never went 10 yards giving Foxcroft great field position at the Coyotes 49-yard line. It took them just 54 seconds to find the endzone for the first time, as Smith rumbled 25 yards down the right sideline for a quick 7-0 lead. The second quarter was really the difference. Old Town running back Elijah Alston lost a fumble deep in his own territory at the 13-yard line, after the Coyotes had just forced FA to turn it over on downs. The Ponies took advantage as Holmes scored from 10 yards out to extend the advantage to 14. With the visitors next possession, a fourth down snap on a punt attempt went over the head of Ethan Closson who had to track the ball down in the endzone and knock it out of bounds for a safety. Caruso would convert on a 1-yard TD run with 4:15 left in the second making it 23-0 which is where it stood at halftime. Holmes capped off the scoring with a 49-yard touchdown run with 3:36 remaining to play in the contest.

Aiden Sickler also had an interception on the night for top seed and 10-0 Foxcroft Academy. #5 Old Town finished their season with a record of 4-6. The Ponies will meet either #2 Winslow or #3 John Bapst in the regional title game next Saturday at Hampden Academy with a time to be announced. FA has won three regional championships in a row, and has also won two of the last three state crowns