By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Lewiston head coach Bill County talked to his team before they headed to the traditional pre-game parade over Longley Bridge and into Auburn for the 161st “Battle of the Bridge.”

The Blue Devils already knew that their playoff hopes had vanished into the thin Farmington air the night before, and County was worried they might come out a little flat Saturday, even against their ancient rivals.

“Basically we had two choices,” County said. “We were either going to sulk a little bit and feel sorry for ourselves, or get angry, and try to let out some of our frustration and anger on the Eddies today.”

The Eddies played with an attitude, too, but six EL turnovers and 201 yards from Lewiston’s Jared Turcotte ultimately swung the game in the Blue Devils’ favor, 26-18.

The Blue Devils have now won three in a row over their rivals and lead the all-time series, 85-64-12. They finished 5-3 and tied for fourth with Oxford Hills in the final Pine Tree Conference standings, but the Vikings will be moving on to the playoffs next week because they won the head-to-head between the two teams, 19-7, back on Oct. 14.

“We thought we were going (to the playoffs), but it was just a turn of fate and we’re stuck with the cards we were dealt,” said Lewiston senior guard/linebacker Patrick McLellan. “We came out a little flat, but this is the Eddies. After that first kickoff, first big hit, first touchdown, we were all wound up and ready to go.”

Led by junior QB Troy Barnies (118 yards and one TD passing, 84 yards and one TD rushing), EL (2-6) outgained Lewiston, 310-246, but four fumbles, two interceptions and some untimely penalties hurt them.

“We had a three or four minute span there in the second quarter where we had penalties and turnovers, but other than that, I thought the kids played real well and fought hard and really represented ourselves well today against a pretty good team,” Hersom said.

Big kick returns by EL’s Chris Ash and Lewiston’s Ryan Lagasse set up their respective teams with good field position on their opening possessions, which both converted into six points. Garner LaValley (15 rushes, 74 yards) got the Eddies on the board first with a six-yard TD run. Turcotte answered with a nine-yard scoring run, and the teams were tied at 6-6 at the end of the first period.

EL’s turnover woes started from there. The Eddies fumbled on their next two possessions and Turcotte and Nick Hall recovered for the Devils. The second turnover led to a 54-yard Lewiston drive that Turcotte capped with a two-yard dive into the end zone that gave Lewiston the lead for good in the second quarter.

A botched punt attempt on EL’s next series gave the Devils the ball at the EL 7. Turcotte ran the ball the next three plays down to the 2, but a play-action fake to the junior tailback on fourth down fooled the entire Eddie defense and QB Chris Ford found Theberge wide open in the back of the end zone for the score. Turcotte threw to Robert Bruce on a fake extra point for the two-point conversion that gave the Devils a 20-6 lead at intermission.

The Eddies threw some offensive wrinkles at the Devils in the second half, including an unbalanced formation where everyone but Barnies would line up wide to the right or left of the ball. Barnies completed a screen pass to LaValley out of the formation that helped set up a 15-yard TD pass to Ash, pulling the Eddies within 20-12 in the third quarter.

“It was something (assistant coach) Gus Leblanc came up with,” Hersom said. “Where we had that week off, we put that in and worked on it and I thought the kids really handled it well.”

Lewiston marched down to the EL 1 on its ensuing possession, but on fourth down, Nate Chantrill burst through the middle of the line and forced a fumble on the exchange that the Eddies recovered at the 2. EL fumbled the ball right back on their first play from scrimmage and McLellan recovered it at the 3. Turcotte dove in from a yard out two plays later and it was 26-12.

Barnies quickly pulled the Eddies back within a possession with a 40-yard TD run along the right sideline on the first play of the fourth quarter. Later in the quarter, the Eddies appeared to have the Devils stopped with time for one last possession, but Lewiston lined up in a fake punt formation on fourth-and-four and lured the Eddies into jumping offsides for the first down, then ran out the clock.

The Devils were presented the Alan Clark Sr. Memorial Trophy following the game, and both teams closed out their seasons with emotional post-game huddles.

“It always matters against EL, but at the same time it’s so tough for us (to end the season this way). We had a hell of a season, but injuries got us,” said Tucotte, who finished the season with over 1,700 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns despite missing a game to a knee injury.

“I don’t regret anything we’ve done,” said Chantrill, whose team was depleted by injuries, suspensions and player defections during the year. “Our numbers were down and we came through a lot of adversity these past few weeks, but I love everyone that stuck with it.”