LEWISTON – Lewiston’s young offensive line made the long walk back to the locker room at halftime well aware of what was coming.

“The whole way back to the locker room, we were talking it up, saying ‘Chalk talk, chalk talk,’ said guard Andy Ouellette, the only senior on a junior-dominated line. “We had to make so many adjustments at halftime,”

As expected, head coach Bill County focused all of his ‘chalk talk’ on the offensive line. It responded, opening big holes for star tailback Jared Turcotte and paving the way for his two touchdowns in the fourth quarter that gave the Blue Devils a 14-7 comeback victory over Mt. Blue.

“We talked to the offensive linemen exclusively. I don’t think I talked to anyone else at halftime,” County said. “I thought they did quite a bit of maturing last week during the second half (of a 42-35 loss to Bangor). Obviously, today, I thought Mt. Blue played great defense early on, but we just took advantage of some muscle and some mismatches there in the second half.”

Turcotte tallied 226 yards on 32 carries, collecting 112 yards, including two 6-yard TD runs, in the fourth quarter alone.

“Every time I got past the line (in the fourth quarter), it was one cut and gone,” Turcotte said.

“They came and took it to us,” Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said. “They got guys on our linebackers. Their O-line won that game. Turcotte’s a good runner, but he was (running) without holes in the first half. Then all of a sudden, he had gaping holes to run through. Their offensive line should get all the credit.”

The Blue Devil defense deserves some credit, too. Coming off a 43-point outburst last week, the Cougars (1-1) seemed to pick up right where they left off with an impressive 7-play, 80-yard drive to open the game. Mike Toothaker (22 carries, 132 yards) pounded in a 2-yard TD run to give the Cougars a quick 7-0 lead.

The Cougars had five other forays into Lewiston territory on the night, but were turned back each time.

“I was very proud of the way the defense played,” County said. “Obviously, it was something that we worked on quite a bit during the week.”

Lewiston (1-1) was similarly frustrated by some squanders through the first three quarters. Interceptions by D.J. Wilbur and Joe Gilbert thwarted two first-half marches into the red zone.

Mt. Blue had a chance to take a two-possession lead late in the third quarter when it drove to the Lewiston 8, only to stall there on back-to-back incomplete passes by Joe Gilbert (11-for-25, 116 yards). The Blue Devils took over but weren’t backed up for long. Matt Letourneau broke a 56-yard run which, with a 15-yard facemask penalty tacked on, put them at the MB 21. Turcotte then went up the middle on back-to-back rushes. The first one converted a 4th-and-1, the second ended up in the end zone to tie the game with 10:20 to go.

Turcotte’s booming kickoff pinned the Cougars back to their own 3. After the defense got the ball back, the offense went to its bread and butter exclusively on the game-winning drive. Turcotte ripped off a 46-yard run to the MB-25, carried two more times down to the 6, then busted it around the right side of his line and dove for the goal line to give the Devils the lead with 7:16 left.

Another deep kick by Turcotte forced the Cougars to start their next drive at their own 8. Their luck just got worse from there. A long catch and run by Hal Robbins was called back due to an illegal block in the back, and Turcotte clinched the win with an interception with 19 seconds left.

“The biggest thing that worries me is people are going to look at us now and say we’re vulnerable in the fourth quarter,” said Parlin, whose team lost its top receiver, Art Trask, to a shoulder injury in the second quarter. “We did not play in the interior in the fourth quarter like we did (the first three).”