POLAND – By the end of Saturday afternoon’s Campbell Conference tilt, the Poland Knights and the Fryeburg Raiders looked more like a pair of tired palookas trading knockout blows than a pair of winless football teams seeking that elusive first victory.
It took a body blow by Hunter Travers (a 68-yard touchdown run, two plays after the Raiders scored to tie the game) followed by an uppercut (an interception by Joe Douglass to end a final scoring threat), but the Knights held on for a thrilling 38-32 homecoming victory over Fryeburg.
“We’ve still got a long ways to go,” said Poland coach Rick Kramer. “I’m proud, because our guys stuck to our system, trusted in it, and came through. We called a lot of the same plays today, and even when (Fryeburg) knew what was coming, they had a hard time stopping it.”
Douglass had a monster game running the Knights’ option attack, calling his own number nine times for 142 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdown runs, including an 84 yard scamper on the last play of the third quarter that pulled Poland (1-4) back within a touchdown. Douglass also scored twice on two-point conversion rushes and added a two-point scoring strike to James Libby.
The Raiders (0-5) did not go down easily, though, as senior quarterback Finn Chappell threw for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns to match his counterpart.
Co-captain Patrick Tweedie added 54 yards on the ground and two more touchdowns for Fryeburg, and provided some grit on the defensive side of the ball as well, forcing an interception with a hard hit on a blitz that set up one of his scores.
“Getting Tweedie back this week was a big lift for us,” said Raider coach Jim Thurston. “Unfortunately, we made some critical errors down the stretch. (Poland) played well, and they deserved to win. You’ve got to be willing to put in enough effort each week to win.”
The Knights jumped out to an 8-0 lead on an eight-play drive that ended with Douglass’s first touchdown run.
The Raiders came back with a seven-play, 52-yard drive, and Chappell found receiver Jake Richards open on the right sideline for a 31-yard score. The two point conversion failed, but Poland’s early lead didn’t last much longer. Douglass dropped back to pass on third and long on the next series, and with Tweedie bearing down hard, floated a pass that ended up in the hands of Chappell. Tweedie scored on the next play with one second to play in the quarter and added a rush for two points that made the score 14-8. Fryeburg padded the lead as Chappell and Richards hooked up again on a 21-yard touchdown, one play after Chappell had a five-yard rushing TD called back on a facemask penalty.
Travers responded with an 81-yard return of the ensuing kickoff to make it 20-16 with 4:37 remaining in the half.
It was back to blows early in the third quarter, as Fryeburg’s Talon Chandler returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a score. Douglass responded three plays later with an 84-yard jaunt to the end zone.
Poland took the lead again late in the third after penalties stalled a drive for the Knights in Fryeburg territory.
The Raiders got the ball back deep in their own zone, but couldn’t move it, and the long snap for the punt on fourth down was over Chappell’s head. Tyler Merchant beat him to the ball in the backfield and rumbled nine yards for the go-ahead score. Chris St. Hilaire rush on the conversion and made it 32-26. Tweedie tied the game on a four-yard plunge in the fourth quarter, but Chappell was stopped at the goal line on the points-after rush.
Travers ended the drama soon after, taking a handoff on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff and tearing a hole in the Raider defense for a 68-yard game-winning run.
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