Editor’s note: An incomplete version of this story ran in Sunday’s Sun Journal on page D1. Here is the story in its entirety.

BOOTHBAY HARBOR – Hail, no.

Jay did everything imaginable in the second half Saturday to win its Western Class C football crossroads clash with Boothbay. Everything, that is, except knock down Roy Arsenault’s desperation dart into a kaleidoscope of navy blue and orange-and-black jerseys as time expired.

Defensive back Nick Bourassa leaped high enough to get a mitt on the ball and disrupt its trajectory. But 6-foot-4, 205-pound Boothbay tight end Kris Noonan used his basketball hops to collect the carom and cradle the goods as he crashed to the end zone turf, securing an unthinkable 14-9 win for the Seahawks.

The official measurement of the game-winning strike was 13 yards, but the deflection and the drama of the drive leading up to the tip drill seemed to double that distance.

“I just wanted to get it and hold onto it,” said Noonan, a junior. “We had faith in ourselves. Everybody did their job.”

Boothbay (4-1) drove the length of the field from its own 13-yard line in the final 55 seconds of regulation, making Jay (3-2) the victim of a last-minute touchdown for the second time in three weeks. Dirigo dealt the Tigers their last dose of heartbreak, but this one will stand alone in the riches-to-rags department.

“Tough game,” said Jay coach Mark Bonnevie. “That’s a great team. They’re not going to give up, and we kept giving them chances. It’s too bad. Our defense played great all day, especially against the run.”

Boothbay needed only three minutes to score on its first possession, punctuated by a 47-yard connection from Arsenault to a wide-open Tim Stover with 8:50 remaining in the first quarter.

That was basically the extent of the Seahawks’ offense until the final minute. Jay warded off several lengthy series in the second stanza, then dominated the third quarter and most of the fourth. Boothbay’s clock-chewing, double-wing rushing attack netted 17 yards in the second half.

“We were very fortunate. We did not play well,” said Boothbay coach Tim Rice, who barely cracked a smile while the Homecoming crowd and an exultant Seahawk sideline went berserk around Noonan at the scene of the crime. “We had a chance to put this game out of the way, and we didn’t do it. Hats off to Jay.”

The Tigers put themselves in business with a third-quarter safety. Shane Lefebvre dropped a textbook, coffin corner punt over the head of the Boothbay return team, and Jay’s Dylan Wiggins smothered the ball just shy of the goal line. Two plays later, Dave Farrington decked Arsenault in the end zone to make it 8-2.

Boothbay wiped out the first six minutes of the fourth quarter with a lengthy drive that ultimately went nowhere thanks to two penalties and a sack by Trevor McCourt. Bourassa’s 15-yard return of the ensuing punt brought the ball across midfield, and on Jay’s second play from scrimmage, Isaac LeBlanc threaded the ball to Bourassa between two defenders for a 44-yard TD.

Jake Brown booted what could have been the game-winning PAT with 5:04 left.

Two short runs and two incomplete passes by Boothbay gave the Tigers tremendous field position and a chance to run out the clock. Jay needed two first downs but got only one, and Arsenault tackled Bourassa four yards shy of the stick to give Boothbay time for its miracle.

Noonan’s catch will be the one never forgotten, but Arsenault’s 51-yard pass to Pat Norton on the first play was the lifeblood of the winning drive.

“We were in our base defense,” Bonnevie said. “We don’t usually play our base against these guys, the way they run, but it gave us a chance to get a couple extra guys back there in that situation. They just made a play.”

Jay’s scouting report was sound, because they had Noonan covered well in the final minute. Too well, actually, as separate defensive holding and pass interference calls against the players shadowing the slippery No. 33 moved the ball much closer to the goal line and set up the catch he finally did make.

“It’s huge,” Noonan said. “We’re 4-1 now. If they won this game, they would be 4-1. It means a lot right now.”