ORONO — Dylan Hapworth will reap the headlines, the highlights, the postseason banquet hardware and a lion’s share of the acclaim for Winslow’s 10th football state championship.

Let’s not make any mistake: Leavitt lost to more than one player in Friday night’s Class C championship at Morse Field. Big-boy, smash-mouth, old-time football won. Physical, go-ahead-and-try-to-stop-it sensibility won.

Those numbers, though. Holy Hapworth.

The senior halfback capped his sensational career with seven (yes, seven) touchdowns, eight extra points, 236 rushing yards, a fumble recovery and a 64-yard kick return in a 62-14 blowout.

“That kid, he’s all-world,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “I don’t get to see some of those guys, but he’s the best running back I’ve put eyes on this year.

Winslow (11-0) won its first Class C championship after a decades-rich Class B dynasty that ended with the 2001 title.

The Black Raiders hoisted the Gold Ball after back-to-back defeats in the C final, including a 47-18 loss to Leavitt (10-2) in 2013.

“Three times! We worked so hard for this,” Hapworth said. “So many practices. So many hours. Ending it senior year like this, I can’t even believe it right now.”

Fifty points by one player would be a whisker short of the all-class, state title game record in basketball, but it assuredly stands alone in football lore.

Hapworth scored on runs of 24, 3, 59, 3, 6 and 2 yards in the first half. His sixth touchdown was a walk-in with no time remaining on the clock after Winslow called timeout on second-and-goal at the 2 with two seconds left.

That gave the senior 206 yards on 22 attempts at the half.

Bobby Chenard’s 2-yard TD on a quarterback sneak provided the only other points prior to intermission, and that followed four Hapworth carries for 29 yards on a short series.

“It was just very base, blocking and tackling, fundamental football, and I don’t know in all my experience if I’ve ever seen a team that was that ready,” Winslow coach Mike Siviski said. “We were really, really ready. We have some talent, but we also have a very strong football staff.”

Hapworth added an 8-yard score in the third quarter, set up by his special teams gem.

Winslow scored on seven of its eight first-half possessions for a 49-0 lead.

The only exception was when Billy Bedard intercepted Chenard in Leavitt territory early in the second quarter. Leavitt was whistled for a personal foul on the runback, backing them up to the 17-yard line, and Jacob Trask returned the favor by picking off Levi Craig on the next play.

Total net yards were 208 to minus-3 after the first quarter and 354 to 64 at intermission.

Dropped passes didn’t help the Leavitt cause on a night when temperatures dipped into the teens, with a stiff wind compounding matters. Winslow held Leavitt to 2-for-15 passing in the first half. Craig finished 5-of-23 for 69 yards, narrowly eclipsing 3,000 for his junior season.

“We were pretty much playing zone,” said Martin, a 6-foot-6 linebacker. “Me and Hap were the flats and (Jacob) Trask deep safety. We had two corners and pretty much shut them down. We had good pressure up front and stopped the run game.”

It took only six plays and two minutes for the Black Raiders to march 61 yards after the opening kickoff.

Trenton Bouchard, Kenny Rickard and Hapworth each churned out a sizable gain before Hapworth broke away to the end zone on third-and-2, slipping a pair of would-be stops off left tackle.

When Leavitt’s first two series unfolded without a first down, the first punctuated by a Luke Fredette tackle for loss and the second by a Martin sack, it quickly unraveled to 21-0.

“Field position hurt us early. Of course they put that quick one up there and we went three-and-out, and you can’t get down 21-0 to a team like that,” Hathaway said. “That’s the way it goes. If you can’t get off to a good start, that can happen, and that’s what happened to us.”

Chenard scored with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter, capping a drive fueled by a 13-yard Hornets punt.

Rickard (16 carries, 93 yards) and Hapworth shared the work on an 8-play, 46-yard excursion behind an offensive line led by seniors Bryce Gilliland and Evan Gammon. Hapworth’s 3-yard TD rush was the shortest play along the route.

Aided by a pass interference call, Leavitt’s next drive reached the Winslow 32 before stalling thanks to a dropped pass on third down and a sack on fourth. Rickard was the first to get his mitts on Craig, with Fredette and Alex Clark finishing the work.

Two plays later, Hapworth ran a sweep left, beat the entire Leavitt defense to the corner and tiptoed the Black Raiders’ sideline for his longest ramble of the evening.

“Dylan’s a very good runner. He picks his holes very well,” Martin said. “We had a great line this year. He really stepped up this game. He’s a great open-field runner.”

There was plenty more in store, too.

Leavitt made a promising foray into Winslow territory early in the second quarter, converting consecutive third downs on a run by a Julian Kirouac and Craig’s first completion of the night, a 10-yarder to Gabe Seeley.

That drive died on downs at the Winslow 37 and preceded the exchange of interceptions, punctuated by Trask’s return to the Hornets’ 14.

Hapworth scored four plays later.

Then came his scoop off the turf at the Leavitt 48, courtesy of a strip at the end of Craig’s 11-yard keeper.

It fed the first of two more drives and two more Hapworth touchdowns to end the half, sandwiched around a brief Hornets threat that ended on downs with three incomplete passes at the Winslow 43. Bouchard made a brilliant, tip-to-himself grab leading to the score at the end of the half.

“They beat us in all phases of the game,” Hathaway said. “Offense, defense, special teams. They just outplayed us. That’s about as simple as it is.”

Sophomore Hunter Sirois capped a long Leavitt drive with a 16-yard TD to open the second half.

Sirois wound up with a team-high 63 yards on seven carries. Tyler Green ran one in from 3 yards out in the final two minutes, with freshman Bryce Hudson throwing to Mitchel Davis for the two points.

Jordan Wing rushed for a Winslow TD in the fourth quarter.

Leavitt was appearing in its fifth state title game in six years. The Hornets won the Class B final in 2009 and lost it in 2010 and 2011.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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