TURNER – Forget the Crabtree point standings and other funky formulas used as tiebreaking procedures to line up Eastern Class B football playoff teams for just a second.
Setting aside mathematics and considering strictly what’s transpired on the field for the last five weeks, it’s easy to make the case that beyond the big three of Gardiner, Winslow and Waterville, Leavitt Area High School is the fourth-sleekest train rolling through the Pine Tree Conference right now.
Leavitt rolled up nearly 500 yards of total offense Saturday night at Libby Field and finished the regular season at the .500 plateau with a 52-20 rout of Oak Hill.
Sophomore Tyler Green carried 15 times for 209 yards and three long touchdown runs, while junior quarterback Evan Barker unleashed scoring tosses to three different receivers. The Hornets (4-4) also forced four turnovers.
Their unofficial reward, though, is merely a No. 7 seed in the eight-team postseason. Leavitt will be a heavy underdog when it travels to Winslow for a quarterfinal next Saturday, minus two-fifths of its starting offensive line.
“Winslow handled us pretty easily in the first game of the year,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “We’ve improved an awful lot since then. I’m sure they have, too.”
Four first-quarter possessions produced three touchdowns and a 20-0 lead. Taking full advantage of Barker’s option tosses and ample real estate along the flanks, Green raced for scores of 23 and 34 yards. Barker also found Scott Redmun for a 7-yard TD.
Oak Hill QB Josh Jillson scored the first of his three touchdowns with 7:33 remaining in an otherwise messy second quarter. Leavitt’s two-minute offense landed the final haymaker of the half, with Barker completing 4-of-5 to Craig McCann (eight receptions, 98 yards) and Jeff Newton before carrying it the final 5 yards himself as time expired.
Barker flipped a shovel pass to Tyler Millett for the two-point conversion and a 28-6 lead at the break.
“We started 10 underclassmen on defense tonight,” said Oak Hill coach Bruce Nicholas. “We tried to keep the seniors in on offense, but there are only six of them, five that really play a lot.”
Jillson (56 yards passing, 52 rushing) and junior Nick Brown (86 all-purpose yards) kept the chains moving for the Raiders (2-6).
Oak Hill lost three fumbles in the first half, and Millett intercepted Jillson to halt the Raiders’ opening series of the third quarter.
“I thought we moved the ball pretty well tonight,” Nicholas said. “That’s what we’ve done. We put together a good drive and turn it over, or we make a nice play and it gets called back on a penalty. We scored 20 points tonight and it probably could have been 40.”
McCann caught a 20-yard TD from Barker in the third quarter, and Millett grabbed a 23-yarder in the fourth.
The bad news for Leavitt came in a two-minute span of the third quarter. Senior captain Josh Levesque went down on a 19-yard gain by Millett with what is believed to be a season-ending right knee injury.
Three plays later, Josh’s younger brother and offensive line mate, Peter, was ejected from the game after an exchange with an Oak Hill player. According to Maine Principals’ Association rules, Peter Levesque is also disqualified from next week’s playoff game.
“(The referee) said he tried to hit a kid. I didn’t see it. Pete’s not that kind of kid at all,” Hathaway said. “It was obviously frustration from seeing his brother carted off the field. Some other guys are going to have to step up. And Josh is our leader. No question, he’s the guy. Some of our seniors are going to fill that leadership role, but I believe McCann, Millett, Redmun and (Kyle) Youland are capable of that.”
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