ORONO — Regional bias or aesthetic preference in offensive football aside, please don’t pretend you saw Friday night coming.

Winslow’s 62-14 rout of Leavitt at Morse Field shattered the record for most points by a Class C champion in the final.

It was less than two minutes away from stomping the mark for largest margin of victory in all classes, until Tyler Green’s 3-yard touchdown saved the Hornets the indignity of being the answer to that trivia question.

And it all represented a 77-point turnaround from a year ago, when Leavitt blew off Winslow’s doors in Portland.

“We were so excited to play, because we lost to them last year,” said Winslow halfback Dylan Hapworth, who rushed for seven touchdowns, was 8-for-8 kicking extra points and recovered a fumble. “We had something to play for.”

Winslow won the most lopsided state final in history, pasting Wells 55-0 to rule Class B in 1993. Cheverus’ 65-13 Class A clobbering of Lewiston in 1985 and Marshwood’s consecutive whitewashings of Lisbon (50-0) in 1983 and Leavitt (51-0) in 1984 atop Class C still drop jaws when the record book is opened.

Forget blowouts. Leavitt had lost only five games since 2008 coming into this one, and it rode a 10-game winning streak against fair competition. The Hornets survived Wells twice and shut down Spruce Mountain in the past month.

It was the Black Raiders who had hunger on their side, however, after back-to-back losses in the state final.

“Every bus ride during the season, we all were talking. This bus ride, we were prepared. We were ready to come here and win the game,” Hapworth said. “I’m just happy we had an overall team effort. It’s unbelievable. That’s the best game we played all year.”

Coming out of the post-game huddle, Leavitt assistant coaches Mark Bonnevie and Chris Gray marveled that Hapworth was the best player they saw this season, by far. That included Chris Carney, who gained more than 2,000 yards and scored 29 touchdowns for Wells.

Both coaching staffs were equally speechless at halftime, with Winslow in command, 49-0, after Hapworth’s sixth touchdown with all zeroes on the clock.

“I like the way that we came out in the second half,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “We just talked about playing them even through the third quarter, and I thought we did. Our kids for the most part held their composure. They came out and kept battling. They didn’t quit, and that’s what they’ve done all year.”

Winslow wide receiver and linebacker said that Black Raiders coach Mike Siviski — with more than 200 victories to his credit — had no historical benchmark at his disposal.

“He said he’s never seen that in his career. That really pumped us up to come out and play even harder,” Martin said. “I did not expect that at all. We just came out ready to go. They couldn’t handle our in-your-face offense. They had a hard time catching the ball.”

Leavitt was limited to minus-3 net yards in the first quarter.

And while the Hornets’ drives ended in punts, turnovers or incomplete passes on fourth down, Winslow cashed in seven of eight, making each one look easier than what preceded it.

Only seven seniors suited up for the Black Raiders.

Hapworth gave the inspirational pre-game talk. He laughed when asked what he gave the group for an earful. “I can’t tell you that,” he said.

Words weren’t necessary. The mere mention of losses to Foxcroft and Leavitt in two previous trips was enough.

“The first year was just a mishap. We should have won that game. The second year they just blew us out. This year we took all that frustration and put it into the game,” Martin said. “I did not imagine that happening. We stepped up, even the second half, and still played like it was 0-0.”

Now Leavitt knows the feeling of having the bitter taste in its mouth on the bus ride home. This year’s seniors experienced it only in passing, as freshmen, in a 2011 loss to Wells.

“(Sophomore) Hunter Sirois came in and gave us a lift in the second half. He ran the ball well,” Hathaway said. “Some other guys got in there and got a little experience. The guys we have coming back, they’ve got a good reason to get in the weight room in the offseason.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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