WATERVILLE — Frank Knight gave his team a choice.

Yet, in the minds of the Waterville football team, there was no choice.

“The offensive line said we could do it,” said quarterback Kevin Scott. “So we decided to go with it.”

The sophomore quarterback plunged in from the 1 on fourth down in overtime to lift the Purple Panthers to a 33-27 win over Mt. Blue.

“It worked all game,” said Scott, filling in for injured starter Brian Tormollan, who broke his wrist in last week’s exhibition game. “We decided to stick with it. The line came up real big and pushed them forward. They made enough room for me to get in.”

Waterville had stuffed the Cougars on its four plays in overtime. Mt. Blue tried three straight rushing plays with Lance Meader, who led the Cougars with 175 yards on 33 carries. A pass attempt on fourth down from the 5 fell incomplete.

The Panthers got three runs from Dylan Veilleux to get them to the 1. Waterville called time to discuss their options.

“I challenged the line,” said Knight. “”Are we going to kick it here or can we get a yard?” They said they could get a yard. So I said “Back up your decision.” That’s great. That really builds team character. The line made a commitment to make the blocks and the coaches made the call. It allowed us to get the victory.”

The favored Cougars discovered quickly they were in for a ballgame Saturday, and it was a hard-fought challenge up until the final play.

“They got knocked down last week,” said Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin. “Their kids practiced hard. They had 14 or 15 guys step up, and we had nobody step up. Our kids, we couldn’t convince them what Waterville could do.”

Between costly penalties, turnovers and poor tackling on defense, the Cougars struggled to maintain the Purple Panthers offense. Matt Hilton rushed for 151 yards on 27 carries and also took a kick return back 83 yards. Scott also played well passing for 83 yards. Despite getting the quick lead, the Cougars found themselves down 13-7, 19-13 and 27-19 in the first half.

“We utilized Kevin Scott to the best of our ability,” said Knight. “Certainly Hilton is a back that has to be respected. So it’s pretty tough when you have a back with Hilton’s ability, and you have a quarterback that can throw like Kevin, you have to defend the whole field.”

The biggest play may have been Hilton’s kick return with :26 left in the opening half. The Cougars had just tied it 19-19 on a 30-yard pass from Garrett Lake to Andrew Beaulieu. Hilton bolted up the middle and turned the momentun in a hurry.

“Special teams is huge,” said Knight. “Anytime you get a big kick return is huge.”

After the two teams combined for 46 points in the first half, the defenses tightened up in the second half. It wasn’t until 10:15 remained in the game when the Cougars managed to tie it.

Meader scored from 5 yards out and then Beaulieu scored on the conversion. He was hit hard by Tormollan, spun off him and forced himself forward through another tackle into the end zone to tie it.

The Cougars, which came up with some significant defensive stops in the second half, couldn’t finish off a late threat in the fourth. Mt. Blue got to the 15 with just over a minute remaining but came up empty.

“They’re more concerned with their press clippings,” said Parlin. “Those better not be there when I get back because next week we’ve got to find out if we can find 14 or 15 tough guys and then we’re going to go into battle with a very good Westbrook team Friday night.”

The Cougars made it look easy on its first possession, getting a 68-yard pass from Lake to Pete Tinguely on the third play of the game. Waterville came right back with a 17-yard scamper from Anthony Jabar to tie it 7-7. After a Meader fumble, Waterville took over on the 40 and quickly turned it into a 13-7 lead when Scott hooked up with Andrew Livingston on a 26-yard pass play. The Cougars tied on a Meader 5-yard run with 4:31 left in the first quarter, but a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt extended a drive. Scott capped it off from the 2 for a 19-13 lead with 4:52 left.