Less than a year ago, Cody Goddard was preparing to engineer Edward Little High School’s first trip to the Pine Tree Conference football championship game since 2002.

Goddard made his collegiate debut as a starting quarterback Saturday and nearly directed Husson University to a huge homecoming victory.

Husson’s upset bid fell short when Norwich stopped a two-point conversion bid with 1:01 remaining to preserve a 20-19 victory.

Earlier in the second half, Goddard (7-for-17, 93 yards) completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Audie Murphy to tie the game at 13-13.

Goddard is part of a heavy local presence at Husson. His EL classmate, Dylon Therrien, made eight tackles Saturday from his linebacker position. Therrien also has carried the ball seven times for 39 yards as a fullback this season.

Senior co-captain Mike Austin of Turner (Leavitt) has started every game at center for the Eagles. Mike Toothaker, a junior from Wilton (Mt. Blue), also has cracked the starting lineup as a fullback and on special teams. And first-year receiver Alfonza Brooks of Lewiston entered the Norwich game with seven receptions, tied for second on the team.

Another special teams contributor is Derek Daley of Dixfield. The Dirigo High School product has made his mark with three tackles while playing reserve defensive back.

“As a first-year player, he has enjoyed the success of ‘making bus,’ which means he is privileged to travel with the team to out-of-state games,” said Hart Daley, Derek’s father and one of his former coaches at Dirigo. “I hope the football players from Dirigo and other Class C school programs will see that and realize that they can continue their careers at the college level.”

Two other tri-county players have racked up double-digit tackles for Husson this season: Nick Brown of Sabattus (Oak Hill) and EL’s Nick Keene.

OH, SNAP

Robie Leavitt of Sabattus (Oak Hill) and his Curry College teammates celebrated their fifth straight football win Saturday, routing Endicott, 37-6.

Leavitt, a 295-pound senior and the son of former New York Giants and Oakland Raiders lineman and current Lewiston High School assistant coach Dick Leavitt, is again the long snapper and the first reserve offensive lineman for the school in Milton, Mass.

Curry advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs last season.

DeHAAN DELIVERS FOR USM

The University of Southern Maine women’s soccer team recently posted its first Little East Conference victory in two years, with a big boost from Lewiston’s Heidi DeHaan.

DeHaan, a junior out of St. Dominic Regional High School, scored the tying goal and assisted the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

For those accomplishments, DeHaan was named Little East offensive player of the week for the period ending Oct. 4.

Her four goals and nine total points lead Southern Maine.

DeHaan and Lewiston High School graduate Shelby Turcotte, a freshman fullback, have started all 13 games for the Huskies. Katie Cobb of Lewiston and Kat Rothe of Leeds (Leavitt) are reserve goaltenders on the team.

BOBCATS BEAT

Tom Esponnette of Auburn (Edward Little) helped the Bates College men’s cross country team to three recent strong performances.

Esponnette was 16th overall and the No. 2 Bates runner in Saturday’s State of Maine Championship at Colby. Esponnette finished in 27 minutes, 39.2 seconds for the Bobcats, who were third out of 10 teams.

A week ago, Esponnette placed 211th in the huge pack at the Open New England meet. He completed the 8-kilometer course at Franklin Park in Boston with a time of 27:12. Bates was the 12th ranking Division III team in the competition.

Bates took fifth out of 18 schools at the Codfish Bowl, with Esponnetts finishing 31st at a clip of 26:43.4. And he was 15th in a dual meet against Bowdoin at Pineland Farms.

Jonathan Lobozzo of New Gloucester is co-captain of the Bates men’s soccer team. Lobozzo is one of only four Bobcats to start every game this season.

Two local standouts have given the Bates field hockey team a lift. Senior Heidi Judkins of Farmington (Mt. Blue) has started every game in the defensive backfield. And last year’s Sun Journal high school all-region player of the year, St. Dom’s grad Mary Lewis, has converted two of her first three collegiate shot attempts into goals. That puts Lewis in a tie for fourth on the team in that category.

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