PITTSFIELD, Maine — Just two years removed from an 0-8 season, the Maine Central Institute football team is the LTC champion.
The undefeated and top-ranked Huskies won that Eastern Maine Class D crown in dominant second-half fashion at chilly Alumni Field on Saturday night, scoring 21 unanswered points after intermission to oust defending champion Bucksport 21-7.
“This feels so good, it tastes so good to know we’ve come so far,” said MCI senior running back and nose guard Eric Hathaway. “We became so dedicated, so committed. The brotherhood we’ve created over the last couple years is truly amazing and that’s what’s going to take us all the way through, that brotherhood.”
Coach Tom Bertrand’s club, 10-0 after winning its first conference crown in 14 years, plays defending state champion Oak Hill of Wales next Saturday in the Class D state final at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland. The game time will be announced Monday.
Oak Hill edged Lisbon 7-6 in Saturday’s Western D final.
The MCI-Bucksport encounter played out much like their Week 3 regular-season clash, when the Huskies scored 21 straight points to break open a 14-14 halftime stalemate en route to a 35-20 victory.
Trailing 7-0 at intermission of the rematch, MCI took the second-half kickoff and drove 77 yards on 12 straight running plays to tie the game on a 4-yard run by senior halfback Jonathan Santiago just 2:40 into the third quarter.
A key to the drive was the return of Hathaway to the lineup after he missed much of the first half with a right ankle injury.
His blocks at the corner allowed Santiago to utilize his outside speed as he rushed six times for 49 yards during the march after managing just 12 yards on 10 first-half carries.
“We built some motivation up at halftime,” said MCI junior quarterback Greg Vigue. “We had our sights set on getting out there and doing it, just one more half of football that we were going to go out and win.”
MCI’s offensive yardage on that initial second-half possession was more than the Huskies yielded during the entire second half. Bucksport (8-2) managed just 51 yards after intermission against an interior defense anchored by Hathaway and linebackers Jimmy Hall and Alex Bertrand.
“He dominated, especially on defense at nose guard,” said Bucksport coach Joel Sankey of Hathaway. “He’s a tough kid.”
Bucksport, which committed two turnovers in each half, also was beset by penalties. The Golden Bucks were hit with 11 accepted flags for 126 yards, with 96 penalty yards coming during the final two quarters.
“The first five minutes of the second half are a crucial part of the game,” said Sankey. “They came out, they responded like they did the first time we played them and we weren’t able to slow down their momentum.
“A lot of mistakes, a lot of penalties, but on their part they played well.”
MCI took the lead 69 seconds into the fourth quarter on a 30-yard touchdown pass Vigue to Hathaway that completed a 63-yard drive.
A 4-yard run up the middle by Alex Bertrand on a gambling fourth-and-3 play near midfield helped the march gain momentum, and a personal foul on Bucksport after a 7-yard pass from Vigue to Austin Tolman moved the ball to the Golden Bucks’ 30.
Two plays later, Hathaway went in motion and Vigue rolled away from Bucksport defensive pressure to loft a pass that Hathaway caught behind a defender in the end zone to give MCI a 13-7 lead with 10:51 remaining.
“The ball was up there for a while, but it was just like another play we had run in practice and their player was out of position and it was right there for me,” said Hathaway. “Greg made a perfect throw.”
Bucksport nearly answered on the next play as senior halfback Jack Cyr picked the ensuing kickoff off the ground and raced 72 yards down the right sideline before Vigue — the kicker — stopped him at the MCI 28.
“I could see the hole and him sliding through it and knew I had to make the tackle or he would score,” said Vigue. “So I just did what I could do to push him toward the sideline and get myself into the best position to make the play.”
Santiago scored an insurance touchdown from a yard out with 3:58 left, then added the two-point conversion rush to give MCI a 14-point lead.
Santiago finished with 122 rushing yards on 26 carries while Bertrand contributed 49 yards on 14 tries and Hathaway added 45 yards on six rushes as MCI amassed 216 of its 291 total yards on the ground.
Cyr rushed for 36 yards on 16 attempts, including a 1-yard leap into the end zone for Bucksport’s lone touchdown with 10:37 left in the second quarter.
Bucks’ senior quarterback Matthew Stewart completed 14 of 26 passes for 112 yards with three interceptions — one each by Tolman, Braden Monteyro and Brandon McKenna.
