OAKLAND — There were moments that Seth Mason looked like a smaller version of Doug Flutie, scrambling around the Lewiston backfield while trying to lead the Lewiston Blue Devils to a come-from-behind victory Friday.

The junior quarterback tried to pass Lewiston downfield on a couple of late drives against Messalonskee, but there was no Gerard Phelan sneaking behind the defense, no lucky break and no miracle comeback for Lewiston. The Eagles held off the Blue Devils rally for a 14-6 win in the Eastern A quarterfinal.

Lewiston was down 14-0 in the first half but threatened the Eagles late in the game. The Blue Devils had two possessions late in the fourth quarter and got as close as the 25 and 35 but couldn't produce the equalizer.

"It certainly looked better than it did in the first or second quarter," said Lewiston coach Bill County. "We kind of challenged them at halftime. I thought we played great defense in the second half. They loaded up on the run, and we tried to throw the ball. I thought that the young kid (Mason) did a great job. He obviously matured a lot here tonight."

It was a momentous victory for the Eagles, which churned out 224 yards on 52 carries on the ground.

"The is the first Class A playoff win and our first home playoff game in Class A, " said Messalonskee coach Wes Littlefield. "It was a great win."

Lewiston's comeback hopes were ignited in the third quarter when a blocked punt at midfield helped set up a score. Mason hit Peter Blais on an 8-yard pass with 7:21 left in the quarter to make it 14-6. The run attempt on the conversion failed. Mason finished with 163-yards passing on 17 completions.

Lewiston was forced to punt on its next two possessions, but the Blue Devil defense kept Messalonskee's ball control offense from running too much time off the clock. The Eagles, which totalled 193 yards to Lewiston's 106 in the first half, were held to just 109 yards in the second half on five possessions.

A Lewiston defensive stand stopped the Eagles on fourth-and-eight on the 30 with 3:17 left. Mason connected with Blais and Jeff Keene on a couple passes to move the Blue Devils downfield. With the ball on the 25, his pass was intercepted by Sam Dexter.

"On the pick, he's not a big kid," said County. "We beat the initial defender. He thought there was a window and didn't see the safety rolling up."

Lewiston stuffed the Eagles again and got the ball back on their own 36 with 1:31 left. Mason completed a 17-yarder to Blais for a first down at the 35. The drive was aided by a late hit on a Messalonskee player, the only flag in the game. With the final minute ticking away, Lewiston tried to connect on a big pass play but had three straight passes fall incomplete, including a Blais pass for Andy Pulk. Mason finally connected with Blais for eight yards but it was shy of the first down at the 27 in the final seconds.

"We got the ball back with a couple minutes," said County. "We did a couple good things and threw a couple good balls. We just missed Andy Pulk on that double pass.

"I thought we started to get a little rhythm in the second half, and I thought we might be able to do something, but it didn't happen. To their credit, they were excellent defensively."

While the Eagle defense was forced to do the job in the second half, it was the Messalonskee offense that dominated the opening half. The Eagles running game churned out yardage and chewed up the clock. Desmond Nutter led the ground game with 98 yards on 18 carries. Messalonskee had 131 yards on 25 carries in the first half alone, producing nine first downs.

"We wanted to come out here and try to suck the clock down and keep them off the field as much as we could offensively," said Littlefield. "We did that in the first half."

After stopping Lewiston on its first possession, the Eagles marched the ball downfield for a 75-yard drive. Nutter took it up the middle from the 7 for the 7-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, the Eagles did it again. They took over on their own 34 and used 10 plays to make it 14-0 with 4:59 left. Quarterback Dylan Foster found Ryan Bender all alone in the right corner of the end zone for a 12-yard pass.

When Lewiston did get the ball offensively in the first half, it struggled to move the ball. Messalonskee held the Blue Devils to 41 yards rushing on 17 carries in the first half. One Mason pass play to Blais for 42-yards accounted for most of the output in the first half. 

"It was a struggle but our kids kept fighting," said County. "We expected to win. Obviously, we're disappointed. It's tough on seniors that have to say goodbye. That's just what happens in close games. There's only one team to walk out of here happy."