FARMINGTON — Sometimes conventional wisdom is right on the money, as it was Saturday night at Caldwell Field.
The last team with the ball did win.
Nate Morris’ interception at the goal line with nine seconds remaining preserved a 36-29 victory for No. 5 Skowhegan over No. 4 Mt. Blue in the Eastern Class B football quarterfinals.
Kaleb Brown rushed for the winning score, a 2-yarder for his third touchdown of the night, with 4:36 remaining.
Mt. Blue (5-4) got one final chance when Brian Durrell recovered Brown’s fumble at the Cougars’ 29 with 1:22 to play. The defending state champions drove to the Skowhegan 25 before running out of time, options and downs.
Morris also knocked down a pass intended for Cam Abbott before making his game-ending grab on fourth down.
Skowhegan (5-4) avenged a 42-40 loss on its home field eight days earlier and advanced to next Friday’s semifinal at top-seeded Brunswick.
The loss ended the coaching career of Gary Parlin, who is retiring after 21 seasons at the Mt. Blue helm.
“There were no secrets tonight,” Skowhegan quarterback Adam Clukey said. “We didn’t change much up. They didn’t change much up. It was see who the better team is.”
Clukey was 14-for-21 for 242 yards through the air, including touchdown passes of 19 yards to D.J. Allen and 21 yards to Owen Mercier.
His biggest play of the night, however, was a fake punt on fourth-and-7 from the Indians’ 37. Allen stretched out for the ball and made a sensational catch at the Mt. Blue 40.
“D.J. Allen saved me. That was the best play I’ve seen all year,” Clukey said.
Two plays later, Clukey hit Mercier for 39 yards to set up Brown’s winning touchdown.
“That’s an automatic in our special teams. We run a rugby punt,” Skowhegan coach Matt Friedman said. “We have fake options all through it. I trust Adam to do the right thing, and he did it.”
Mt. Blue went three-and-out on its next series, with Mercier and Brown combining to stop J.T. Williams a yard shy of the stick at the Mt. Blue 43.
Skowhegan attempted to run out the clock around Mt. Blue’s judicious use of timeouts on six straight carries by Brown, but on the sixth, the ball ended up on the ground and in Durrell’s hands.
That stop and the Indians’ subsequent denial of Andrew Pratt and Co. at the other end were rare non-scoring excursions in the two-week series. Skowhegan and Mt. Blue combined for only three punts in the rematch.
“I don’t think since I’ve been coaching there’s been two any more even teams,” Parlin said. “It seems like what one team does well, the other does well. We almost have the same weaknesses and same strengths.”
Pratt had a sensational final game for the Cougars. He rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns, including a 49-yarder.
Later, his 27-yard hookup with Nate Backus gave Mt. Blue a 29-28 lead with 8:09 left. Pratt was 13-for-30 for 162 yards through the air.
Skowhegan scored first, scored last, and forced a turnover to end each half. Brett Gilbert picked off Pratt to send the Indians into the locker room up 22-16 at intermission.
Brown scored the go-ahead touchdown with 24 seconds remaining after a brief controversy.
Mt. Blue appeared to strip receiver Salley on catch inside the 20, sending Nate Pratt-Holt on what might have been an interrupted run down the visiting sideline for a touchdown.
The play was ruled dead by an inadvertent whistle, though, and the down was replayed. Clukey promptly hit Mercier for a 22-yard gain on the second crack at third-and-11.
Brown (33 carries, 84 yards) eventually scored from a yard out.
“What we’ve been talking to these kids about all season is having confidence in themselves. We’re smaller than everybody we play,” said Friedman, a Jay native. “Nobody ever gives us a huge chance. They know we’re going to be tough, but they don’t think we’re going to be able to take that next step. These kids, I’m proud of them, because they believed in themselves.”
Mt. Blue scored the only points of the third quarter and took its first lead of the night. Pratt punctuated a 16-play, 66-yard drive that gobbled up 7 minutes, 11 seconds, covering three yards on fourth-and-goal. Anthony Franchetti’s kick made it 23-22.
Kindle Bonsall and Abbott made catches of 23 and 10 yards to extend the drive. Bonsall’s grab was a third-down conversion. Abbott’s came on fourth-and-6.
The Mt. Blue seniors went 26-6 over their final three years of high school, appearing in two Eastern Class B finals and winning the 2012 Gold Ball.
“They played in big games, and they’re going to be good people moving on through life,” Parlin said.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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