Wyatt Hathaway of Leavitt Area High School throws a two point conversion pass to Cole Morin (not pictured) during the second quarter against York last month. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Two of the state’s most electric offenses, a 33-game win streak on the line, and a homecoming game that is certain to be packed long before Saturday’s 7 p.m. kickoff.

Both Leavitt and Wells enter Saturday’s matchup undefeated, and both have run over the majority of their five opponents so far — the few exceptions being Leavitt scraping by Fryeburg Academy in Week 2 and Wells slipping by Winslow in the season opener and Cape Elizabeth 34-33 two weeks ago.

Maine Central Institute running back Braeden Kennedy (22) fights for some extra yards as Wells defenders Evan Cash (9) and Jacob Scott converge last week in Pittsfield. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

That all leads to one of the biggest games of 2019, Saturday night in Turner.

Junior quarterback Wyatt Hathaway and the Hornets’ various offensive weapons have racked up 44, 42, 36 and 48 points in games this season.

Hathaway threw for three touchdowns against Poland last Friday and ran one in from 15 yards. The week before he completed only two passes against York but the Leavitt still won 36-12 thanks to the Calder brothers.

Damion and Desean Calder, two of the Hornets’ fastest players, both scored long touchdowns against York and accounted for 301 of Leavitt’s 466 rushing yards.

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Last week against Poland, senior Cam Jordan scored a rushing touchdown and also blocked a punt. Jordan is widely considered one of the top defenders in the state.

Leavitt will need him and the rest of the defense to be at their best Saturday against Wells, which has basically been a running-back factory the past few years.

Last year Wells had Tyler Bridge in this backfield. Bridge gained more than 3,000 all-purpose yards and scored 45 touchdowns in 2018 on his way to earning the 2018 Fitzpatrick Trophy. The year before Bridge’s super senior season, Nolan Potter ran for 28 touchdowns his senior year. (Both Bridge and Potter now play at Bates College.)

The Warriors have re-loaded against this year, and Payton MacKay is the one carrying the load. MacKay scored four times in Wells’ one-point win over Cape Elizabeth last week with touchdown runs of 54, 51, 42 and 12 yards.

Wells might be susceptible to good quarterback play, as evidenced by Cape Elizabeth QB Gannon Stewart leading the Capers to a near-upset over the Warriors two weeks ago.

So, to give Leavitt a chance to end Wells’ streak, Hathaway will have to be mistake-free and lethal through the air and on the ground. The Hornets’ offense requires a quarterback to make a lot of decisions in a split second, and Hathaway will have to make mostly correct ones Saturday.

Wells senior Matt Tufts suggested after his team’s win over Cape that his team’s streak has been overrated. Well has won three consecutive state titles but is now in Class C (where it won the first of the three in a row before moving to Class D for 2017-18) and faces perhaps its toughest test Saturday.

The game can be streamed online by Munzing Media.


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