Mt. Blue demonstrated and experienced the fickle nature of high school football Friday night, courtesy of Messalonskee.
Only six days after hanging a shutout on rarely-beaten Lawrence, the Cougars committed six turnovers in a stunning 49-41 Eastern Class B loss to the Eagles at Veterans Field.
Messalonskee (1-2) forced six turnovers, including Devin Warren’s third interception of the night on a Hail Mary bid by Andrew Pratt at the finish.
Warren also caught touchdowns of 33 and 54 yards from Jake Dexter, who ran for three scores. Zach Mathieu and Jake Bernatchez picked off passes for the Eagles. Jake Doyon pounced on a fumble.
The verdict ended winning streaks of 10 during the regular season and 14 overall for defending state champion Mt. Blue (2-1). It also was the first win at Messalonskee for head coach Brad Bishop, who coached the linebackers at Mt. Blue the previous two seasons.
Mt. Blue took its only lead of the night at 7-6 on a 15-yard run by Kindle Bonsall and Anthony Franchetti’s extra point early in the second quarter.
Mathieu answered with an 18-yard TD run for Messalonskee. Pratt connected with Nate Backus from 30 yards and Franchetti banged home another PAT to tie it with 4:12 left, but the first Dexter-to-Warren TD put the Eagles in front to stay.
They connected again for a score on the third play out of the locker room in the second half.
Long TD runs by J.T. Williams (24 yards) and Pratt (57) kept Mt. Blue within striking distance at 41-27 entering the fourth. Dexter padded Messalonskee’s margin with a 2-yard TD rush.
Pratt found Williams from 54 yards and Backus from 11 late in the game. Mt. Blue’s two-point bid on the second TD failed, but the Cougars recovered an onside kick with 26 seconds remaining at the Eagles 48.
Three straight passes fell incomplete, though, and the fourth landed in Warren’s hands at the horn.
The tone was set early for Mt. Blue, which gained either zero or negative yardage with its first eight offensive plays. Messalonskee also stopped Mt. Blue on fourth-and-goal in the opening quarter.
koakes@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.