The Leavitt Hornets haven’t just been preparing for tonight’s Eastern Class B semifinal with Brewer. They’ve been preparing for the game within the game.
The name of the game is “Where’s Ricky?” which is the question the Leavitt defense will be asking itself throughout tonight’s contest.
The third-seeded Witches (7-2) list senior Ricky Porter as the starting quarterback on their depth chart, but that doesn’t mean he’ll always be calling the signals.
“They’ve been moving him around quite a bit the last few games,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “He probably played less quarterback against Gardiner (in the quarterfinals) than he has all year. They’ll play him in the slot. They’ll play him at receiver. They’ll line him up at tailback every once in awhile.”
Wherever Porter lines up, he’ll make a play. He had 71 yards rushing and 42 receiving against Gardiner. He finished third in the Pine Tree Conference in rushing during the regular season, averaging nearly 12 yards per carry.
Porter isn’t all the Hornets have to worry about, however. While Porter provides the speed in the Witches’ backfield, fullback Ben Caldwell is the power. And halfback Zack Wilson, who led the Witches with 105 yards and two touchdowns on the ground last week, runs with a combination of speed and power. There’s also junior Ricky Adams to consider. He filled in for Porter at QB most of the night and completed four of five passes for 53 yards and a pair of scores, while also rushing for 29 yards.
“We’ve got to limit their big plays on offense,” Hathaway said. “We can’t let Porter loose and allow him to get points on long runs.”
Hathaway calls Brewer the most well-rounded team the second-seeded Hornets (8-1) will face this year, capable of making plays on special teams and with a speedy defense led by Wilson and Caldwell at linebacker and Porter at safety.
Brewer’s linebackers will have their hands full trying to contain Leavitt QB Tyler Angell, who in Leavitt’s 46-21 quarterfinal win over Hampden threw for 240 yards and three TDs and ran for 99 and another score.
“We’ve seen some good quarterbacks in the state of Maine this year, but that was just a display,” Hathaway said. “He does a lot of the things you can’t really teach where he gets out and freelances a little bit.”
Angell finished first in the league in passing and second in rushing, so he’s obviously dangerous freelancing or getting his teammates involved, whether it’s running backs Chris Brewer and Corey Witham or end Ben Boulay.
The two teams didn’t meet this year, but this is a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which the Witches won, 27-6.
In the other semifinal, No. 5 Waterville (6-3) meets No. 1 Winslow (9-0) in the season’s second “Battle of the Bridge” between the rivals. Winslow won the first one two weeks ago, 36-15, but the Purple Panthers were playing without QB Dan Hussey, who returned from a shoulder injury last week and threw four TD passes against Belfast.
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