JAY – Death and taxes aren’t the only certainties as far as the residents of the Boothbay Harbor region are concerned. Those folks on the coast add the success of the Boothbay Seahawks’ running game to that short list.

Friday night at Taglienti Field, the third-seeded Seahawks continued their march toward what they hope is a third straight state title by slugging out 423 yards on the ground in a 43-6 Western Class C semifinal win over No. 2 Jay.

Boothbay avenged a 12-8 loss here on a rainy night in September.

The Seahawks (8-2) took control early with their smash mouth style. The Seahawks don’t come at you with feints and jabs. There’s no fancy footwork, just straight rights to the midsection.

The first half saw Boothbay pound out a 27-6 lead on the typical here we come, try and stop us offense.

“It’s just crazy,” said senior lineman Travis Foulke on the success of the Boothbay offense. “No matter what defense we’re lined up against, we have three running backs that can find a hole.”

A basic 11-play, 58-yard drive on the first series was capped by D.J. Holcomb’s 4-yard scoring run, and the Seahawks led 6-0. From there, the Seahawks took advantage of two Tigers fumbles and capitalized by scoring off both turnovers.

Early in the second quarter, Justin Wood (19 carries for 141 yards) finished a 24-yard drive with a run from 7 yards out. Later, it was Jon Farrin (22 for 189) powering his way in from 5yards out to cap a 9-yard drive.

Farrin’s score was set up by Foulke’s 40-yard fumble return. Jay running back Kyle Richards (team-high 77 yards rushing) was hit near midfield, and the ball popped up into the air. One of Richards’ teammates caught the ball on the fly and began to run with it. Foulke swooped in and stripped the ball away before rumbling his way to the Tigers’ 9.

“I just saw him fumble that thing around, and there was no doubt I was going to get it,” said Foulke. “I just wish I could have run faster.”

Being down 20-0 early in the second quarter was not part of the Jay game plan.

“We turned (the ball) over too many times,” said Jay coach Mark Bonnevie. “We can’t give Boothbay a short field like that.”

Jay (8-2) finally got on the board after being forced to go with a spread offense. Justin Wells (9-for-18, 111 yards and two interceptions) connected on four passes during the scoring drive before finding Marc Kelvey from 9 yards out to make the score 20-6.

Just before the half, however, Farrin scored the second of his four touchdowns to increase the margin.

Boothbay took care of any hope that Jay had coming out of the intermission break by putting together a workmanlike 74-yard scoring drive. Farrin later added a 64-yard score in the third period, and it was lights out.

“We came out here (wanting to have) no regrets,” said Foulke. “We seniors knew this could be our last game, and we weren’t leaving anything on this field.”

“We came out and we were physical on defense,” said Boothbay coach Tim Rice. “We didn’t do that the last time. And we didn’t make mistakes.”