LEWISTON – So you followed Lewiston and Edward Little football all autumn long. And for some reason you were coerced into yardwork, arrested for jaywalking or otherwise detained against your will and missed Saturday’s 164th riverside rumble.

Let’s conduct a little double-blind taste test and see if you can determine which rival was left standing, shall we?

Team A marched 87 yards in the final five minutes of the first half, all but the last 18 feet with runs up the gullet administered like Triaminic to a sniffling toddler, to snag a 6-0 intermission lead.

Coaches from Team B exchanged raised eyebrows and uneasy glances, watching helplessly as a half-dozen of its players stumbled off Don Roux Field with whiplash, stingers, oxygen deprivation and other symptoms of helmet-to-bone contact.

Linebackers and defensive ends from Team A spent the afternoon enjoying a tailgate party in Team B’s backfield, sacking the quarterback five times. When B’s passer did have time to set his feet and throw, it was often a check down to his fourth receiver.

First downs were a rarer commodity for Team B than rising stocks. Even while playing in full-on, catch-up mode, ‘B’ snapped the chain gang out of daydreamland only five times in the entire second half. Two of those took place on a desperation drive from the specter of its own goalposts at the end of the game.

Based on what we’ve known and loved, or dreaded, about our Twin Cities teams in this year of their most mutual success since the Carter administration, surely Lewiston won with ease.

Surely we jest.

The reinvention of the Red Eddies was quick, authoritative, and if you’re a Blue Devil, certainly not painless. EL blended finesse with firepower like peanut butter and chocolate and walked off with an oh-so-sweet, 19-12 triumph over previously undefeated Lewiston.

“We’ve been struggling all year to make adjustments in our defense and step it up,” said Grady Burns, the Eddies’ 5-foot-8-on-a-phone-book nose guard. “This week we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We made them make mistakes.”

Lewiston and persistent, punishing halfback Wesley Myers looked like a frightening matchup problem for an EL defense that surrendered 27 points to Messalonskee, 21 to Oxford Hills and 19 to Cony.

Instead, the Eddies put enough helmets in No. 5’s midsection to leave him with a tattoo that reads “Riddell” inside-out. Already nicked-up entering the game, Myers suffered from an apparent hand injury and cramps from the second quarter, on.

Myers finished with a relatively tame 112 yards on 16 carries.

“We’re very proud of that. We work so many times on wrapping up and better tackling and so many little things about being more physical because we’re just not physical on that side. I worked here a long time, and those guys,” said EL coach Darren Hartley, gesturing toward the vacated Lewiston sideline, “know how to be physical. These guys (EL) know how to be slick and athletic. Not today.”

Fifteen different Eddies registered at least one tackle. That’s telltale in itself. Then consider a high volume of plays in which up to four different EL defenders could have been credited with a hand in the stop.

Bruce Gerry (nine tackles, two sacks), Dylon Therrien (10 tackles) and Shane Ciriello (eight) were the repeat offenders, but it was Burns who funneled things their way and provided the ultimate distraction to Lewiston’s junior-dominated offensive line.

“Burns is a heck of a football player. He disrupts an entire offense by being a great nose,” said Lewiston coach Bill County. “We had some things in place to take care of that. They had a lot of clean shots. We’ve just got to find out why it happened and be better.”

There aren’t many foolproof ways to prepare for Myers, who can burn defenses with his speed or carve them to bits by lowering his shoulder and leaving them in a helpless heap.

EL enhanced its scout team by inviting its fastest freshmen to varsity practice all week.

“Just somebody that was fast,” explained EL defensive back Merton “Buddy” Foss. “It gave us a good look. All week long in practice we talked about swarming to the ball, because Wesley, you won’t tackle him one-on-one by yourself. You need three, four, five, six guys to the ball every time.”

Not the most air-tight team in the Pine Tree Conference when it comes to protecting a lead, EL junked its proclivity for the prevent defense and stayed aggressive.

With Burns and Jake Goulette leading the invasion into the pocket in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils’ aerial attack was reduced mostly to dump-offs after Tyler Lussier’s 55-yard TD catch with 8:07 remaining.

“(Defensive coordinator Travis) Dube said, ‘When in doubt, just send the house.’ We just did a linebacker blitz every time,” Foss said.

“We’re not going to stand and wait. We’re coming,” added Hartley. “There was some anguish on the sideline. We’re talked so much the last couple weeks about just finishing, doing the little things. If you look, we play about 22 guys defensively. Even though we continue to make mistakes, we’re pretty good in the fourth quarter because we’re pretty fresh.”

Good as new, in fact.

Almost unrecognizable when you tear off the blinders.

Kalle Oakes is a staff columnist. His e-mail is [email protected].