BIDDEFORD – First it was thunder and lightning, then turnovers and a ferocious West defense spelled doom for the East in the 16th Lobster Bowl Classic on Friday night at Waterhouse Field.
A crowd of 5,000 braved a treacherous pre-game thunderstorm, then watched as the West pressured East quarterbacks all night and picked off five passes on its way to a 23-12 win, its 14th in the game’s history.
The East also picked off three passes, all of them by Edward Little’s Rob Leighton, including one he returned 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The East found itself down 17-0 after the first 15-and-change minutes despite yielding just one first down to the West.
Lisbon’s Chris Kates made moving the chains moot on the East’s first series by intercepting a pass by Windham’s Peter Cekutis and returning it 36 yards to the East 9. Stops by Leavitt’s Ryan Staples and Jordan Stevens of Mt. Blue kept the West out of the end zone, but Ryan Pike of Thornton Academy nailed a 37-yard field goal to put the West on the board just 2:32 into the game.
A 15-yard punt return and then a 31-yard run by Brad Bryant of Livermore Falls set up the West’s first touchdown, a three-yard dive by Deering’s Al Axelson that, with Pike’s extra point, made it 10-0 with 2:20 left in the first quarter.
The East offense sputtered out of the gate, managing just one first down in five first quarter possessions. Unable to get Fitzpatrick Trophy winner Nick Tymoczko untracked (16 yards on seven first half carries), they went to the air with mixed results. Cekutis was 0-for-9 with three INT’s in the first half, while Bucksport’s Joey Carmichael was 6-for-10 for 63 yards and a touchdown.
The West went to the big play for its third score, a 68-yard TD toss from Bonny Eagles’ Matt O’Donnell to Mike Joyce of Deering along the left sideline on the first play of the second quarter. Their 17-0 lead was short-lived, however, as the East responded on its next possession with a 11-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Carmichael to WInslow’s Eric Lopez. Carmichael’s two-point run attempt failed, keeping the East down 17-6.
Leighton briefly preserved that margin by intercepting O’Donnell in the end zone late in the first half. The West defense held the East to a three-and-out, however, and Jeremie Pillsbury of Noble put the first and only special teams touchdown on the board by blocking a punt by Stearns’ Ryan Bouchard at the 15, scooping it up at the 10 and running untouched into the end zone with 2:40 to go in the half. An interception by Mountain Valley’s Korey Staires, the third pick thrown by Cekutis in the half, helped the West take a 23-6 lead into the intermission.
The teams traded interceptions and no points in the third quarter. Pike tried another 37-yarder to add to the West lead, but it went wide left.
Leighton got the East back in it with his third pick-off of the game, returning it for the score that made it 23-12 after the two-point attempt fell short with 11:40 left.
The East only got one more opportunity in West territory, driving down as far as the 18. A Pillsbury sack of Carmichael on third down stopped that drive in its tracks, though.
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