LIVERMORE FALLS – Shawn Whiting never twisted his ankle with better timing than he did Friday night on the goal line at Griffin Field.

His own 165-pound mass falling awkwardly on that creaky joint ultimately was far less hazardous to his health than two dozen exultant, padded Livermore Falls teammates would have been, bearing down on his chest in celebration.

Whiting’s interception in overtime silenced Jay’s lone possession after only one play, and it made Chandler White’s 10-yard touchdown run stand as the winning margin in a 21-14 triumph that snuck the Andies into the Campbell Conference Class C playoffs.

When Whiting stayed on his back and wasn’t sure he could walk away from the scene of the theft, at first, the Andies hoisted him on their shoulders to midfield for the presentation of the Boosters’ Trophy.

“It wasn’t going to happen. Not happening,” Whiting said of seeing riverside rival Jay potentially dislodge his team from the postseason.

Ten minutes of real life and two minutes of scoreboard time earlier, Livermore Falls (5-4) resuscitated its season in unlikely fashion.

Trailing by a touchdown and striving to stuff Jay on third-and-4 at the Tigers’ 44, Kyle Stebbins stripped the ball from Miles Hutchinson’s grasp. Nate Michaud collected the fumble in full stride and raced to the 23.

“I thought it was over, but that fumble pumped us all up. It was our game after that,” Michaud said. “I saw green grass and I thought I was gone.”

Unheralded junior Jeff Ryder scored his second touchdown of the night on the next play, squirting through a cavernous hole at left tackle. Kyle Stebbins’ extra point split the uprights for a 14-14 tie with 2:02 remaining in regulation.

Ryder, who was injured as a freshman and lived in North Carolina as a sophomore, also rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter and recovered a free ball on a kickoff for the Andies. He received the Roland Ouellette Trophy, symbolic of the most valuable player in the traditional season-ending showdown.

“Blocking is what did it for me,: said a stunned Ryder, celebrating the front five of Matt Lord, Sam Chabot, Dillon Newcomb, Brendon Bachelder and Zach Brochu and tight end Ross Chicoine.

Livermore Falls (5-4) awaits the outcome of today’s Winthrop-Lisbon battle to learn which of the top three seeds it will encounter next weekend.

Jay (4-5) needed a win and some out-of-town help in order to steal away the No. 4 playoff seed from Livermore Falls. The Tigers nearly held up their end of the bargain with a smothering defensive effort that held the Andies without a first down in the second half prior to Ryder’s game-tying ramble.

Their undoing? Whiting’s interception was the fifth turnover of the game, stacked against none for the Andies. Jay put the ball on the ground eight times in all. Chabot and Brochu joined Ryder and Michaud with recoveries.

“It’s all about execution, you know? Too many turnovers,” said Jay quarterback and defensive back Austin Clark. “We couldn’t hold onto the ball. Late in the game with two minutes left, all we needed were two first downs. We got the first one. I think when the ball hit the ground it was over from there.”

The Andies scored all three touchdowns with a short field. Chabot pounced on a muffed punt to prolong Livermore Falls’ first possession of the night, leading to Ryder’s TD plunge.

Jay answered with a 60-yard TD run by Jordan DeMillo, who concluded with a game-high 129 yards on 16 carries.

Brochu and Lord blocked the extra point, and it stayed 7-6 until Clark’s 1-yard plunge capped a 16-play, seven-minute Jay drive with 9:14 to go in the fourth. Two succeeding three-and-outs by the Andies sent the green-and-gold defense into desperation mode.

“It was a break here or a break there or a play here. There’s always a chance,” said Livermore Falls coach Brad Bishop. “You never know in high school, anyway.”

Given new life, the Andies clung to their traditional dance partner in overtime. With most eyes on Stebbins (23 carries, 59 yards), White ran a buck sweep to the right and cut back to the end zone without encountering an orange jersey.

“That play was 1950. We tell the kids every week our offense was invented in 1950 at the University of Maine,” Bishop said. “When you have marginal kids every year that come in and out and you don’t have a big roster, we just do things to keep it simple and fundamentally sound. Hey, we’re in the playoffs.”