WELLS — Ask other Western Class B football programs: It isn’t always wise to celebrate a regular-season victory over Mountain Valley with more than a golf clap.

The Falcons do take notes, written and mental. And you’re almost guaranteed to see them again in a month, if not sooner.

Oh, but you wouldn’t whoop and holler?

Victories over the program that has won four state titles in seven years are a precious commodity. So Wells fans and players squeezed every moment from a convincing 28-12 triumph Friday night at Warrior Memorial Field.

Mountain Valley had shared the longest active winning streak in the state with Cheverus and Yarmouth at 17 games. Two of those victories came at Wells’ expense, including a 18-0 verdict in the 2010 regional championship game at Rumford.

“I threw a pick at the end (of a 27-20 loss) sophomore year,” said Wells quarterback Paul McDonough. “It’s good to get a win, because we haven’t done it against them since I’ve been playing here.”

McDonough celebrated his birthday in style. He was 4-for-6 for 96 yards through the air, all in the first half, including touchdown passes of 51 yards to Kevin Woods and five yards to Josh Ingalls. McDonough also ran for a 35-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

Louis DiTomasso delivered 23 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown to help Wells (6-0) dominate the clock, the first down totals (23 to 9) and the final net yardage numbers (406 to 222).

“We did some things well tonight. Tackling and blocking weren’t two of them,” Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward said. “We didn’t tackle well enough tonight. I hate to oversimplify it, but they blocked and tackled better than we did. The end.”

That conclusion didn’t seem in much doubt after McDonough’s elusiveness and accuracy and DiTomasso’s churning legs staked the Warriors to a 21-6 halftime lead.

Mountain Valley (5-1) drove to Wells’ 2-yard line with its first possession of the second half before essentially losing running backs Kyle Duguay and Matt Hosie for the remainder of the night on the last two plays of a goal-line stand.

Duguay twisted his knee after a collision with Mike DiSalvo on third down. Doug McLean then rang Hosie’s bell with an unabated shot and threw in a one-yard loss for good measure.

DiTomasso recovered a fumble and McDonough intercepted a pass to highlight the Warriors’ first-half defense. Mountain Valley scored its only points before the half on a 36-yard ramble by Duguay (12 carries, 104 yards) with 5:01 remaining.

“That’s a big win, but that’s just the beginning. We’re going to see them again,” DiTomasso said. “They’re a great team. It’s not like it was a blowout.”

Mountain Valley delivered the inevitable counterpunch after Wells drove from its own 3 to the Falcons’ 17 and threatened to put it away.

Izaak Mills sacked McDonough and stripped the ball to the turf. Taylor Carey scooped it up and sped away to an uncontested 73-yard score.

Brandon Pridham denied Zach Radcliffe’s crucial two-point rush to keep it a two-score margin at 21-12.

“It’s a big deal for us. It gives us the confidence that we know we can play with these guys,” Wells coach Tim Roche said. “They’re a great football team. It’s been that way for the last 10 years. For our kids this is what we’ve worked for since we lost last year in the championship game. It’s sweet. I’m not going to lie to you.”

The Falcons did have one more opportunity to close the gap when they took over at the Wells 40 following a shanked punt on the final play of the third quarter.

But Mountain Valley lost 17 yards and narrowly avoided losing possession on an errant pitch. Then came a holding penalty.

Radcliffe’s connection with Isaac Roberts shortened third-and-38 to fourth-and-9 before Radcliffe’s next pass to Mills missed the target.

McDonough escaped to the end zone seven plays later.

“How many times did we have Paul McDonough? And then the kid makes plays,” Aylward said. “I thought we dug ourselves a hole with at least three third-and-16-or-mores.”

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