Oxford Hills

rallies from a

20-point deficit to beat Lewiston in overtime.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Oxford Hills dug itself into a 20-0 hole late in the second quarter then used some big plays from its passing game and an inspired second half by its defense to pull off a 27-20 overtime win over Lewiston Friday night.

Tim Cote threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Tifft to tie the game in the fourth quarter then hooked up again with Tifft (three catches, 97 yards) from 10 yards out in overtime as the Vikings (3-1) handed the Blue Devils (1-3) their second stunning overtime loss in as many weeks.

“The line held their blocks longer,” said Cote, who completed his last five pass attempts in the game, three for touchdowns. “We executed to the whistle in the second half.”

“We had our chances in the first half and didn’t captitalize on them,” said Oxford Hills coach Paul Bickford. “In the second half, we made some big plays, and when we had the opportunities, we took advantage of them.”

The Blue Devils grabbed a quick 13-0 lead within their first five plays from scrimmage on touchdown runs on 35 and 65 yards by James Spaulding (25 rushes, 148 yards). But a blocked extra point after the first touchdown would come back to haunt Lewiston.

Oxford Hills turned the ball over on its first two forays into Lewiston territory. George Foisy picked off Cote at the 45, which led to the Devils’ third and final score on a one-yard QB keeper by Chris Ford with 4:12 left in the first half.

Bower (17 rushes, 91 yards) gave the Vikings the spark they needed on the ensuing kickoff, fielding the ball at the 18, breaking tackles, then dragging would-be tacklers on either side of the 50 before busting free for an 82-yard TD return.

The Vikes pulled within a touchdown on a 10-play, 63-yard drive capped by a five-yard TD pass from Cote (7-15, 139 yards, three TD, 1 INT) to Tyler Slack. Justin Cocroft’s PAT made it 20-14 early in the fourth.

Oxford Hills’ defense, led by inside linebacker Shawn Fanjoy, then buttoned up Spaulding and the rest of the Lewiston running game, holding the Devils’ three-and-out on their next series.

“I think it took us a while to figure out just how quick and strong a runner Spaulding is,” Bickford said. “We got very physical in the second half.”

“The real quandary for us is offensively. We score 20 points in the first half with a basic offense and then suddenly, they make a couple of defensive adjustments, and I don’t know if we weren’t intelligent enough to make the counter-adjustments, or maybe physically, we just got beat,” said Lewiston coach Bill County, whose team lost to Gardiner in overtime last week. “We kind of ran out of things to call in the second half and that’s not a good position to be in.”

Cote put the Vikings in a good position by hooking up with Tifft on a fade route down the right sideline for the game-tying touchdown. Cocroft’s PAT attempt just barely missed to the left, ultimately sending the game into overtime.

“Defensively. it seems like we’ve hurt ourself with the big play all year and it continued again tonight,” said County.

In overtime, the Vikings had the ball first at the 10-yard line with four plays to score. They only needed half of them to put the pressure back on the Blue Devils as Cote found a sliding Tifft in the middle of the end zone for the game-winning TD.

“I had to wait for everyone to clear to the right. Tifft ran a great route across the middle and he made a great catch,” Cote said.

Lewiston’s series got off to a bad start with an illegal procedure penalty on the first play. The Devils ran the ball four straight times, but could only get as close as the two, where Foisy was gang-tackled on fourth down.