PORTLAND — Another day, another dramatic drive to win a high school football state championship.
This one was engineered by Bonny Eagle and junior quarterback Zach Dubiel, whose 6-yard scamper with 22 seconds remaining steered the Scots to a 31-28 win Saturday over Cheverus in the Class A final at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Bonny Eagle (10-1) won its fifth Class A championship in 10 seasons and its first since 2008 after taking over its own 22-yard line with just over two minutes remaining.
Matt Drouin of Cheverus stopped Jon Woods on third-and-2 from the 7 before Dubiel faked a handoff on a counter play and raced into the end zone for the game-winning TD.
Cheverus (10-1) rallied from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to take a 28-24 lead on a 3-yard TD run by Cody O’Brien with 1:02 remaining in the period.
It was a game of can-you-top-this featuring big plays by the Scots and long, grinding drives from the Stags early.
Matt Smith’s 66-yard run put the Scots in front. Cheverus answered with the help of three big runs frm O’Brien, capped by Joe Fitzpatrick’s 4-yard run.
Dubiel fired a strike in single coverage to Ben Malloy, who craftily kept his balance on a 75-yard catch-and-run to restore the lead for the Scots at 14-7.
Back stormed Cheverus, which gobbled up nearly eight minutes on a 17-play drive aided by a pair of Bonny Eagle penalties. Fitzpatrick scored his second TD of the day and 32nd of the season from a yard out with under a minute to go.
Bonny Eagle boldly went for the long ball and was rewarded with a 30-yard connection from Dubiel to Woods. That set up a 33-yard field goal by Isaiah Reynolds at the horn for a 17-14 halftime advantage.
Joe Bissonnette continued the big-play trend with a 54-yard TD run on the Scots’ first possession the half.
Cheverus cut into the lead with another long drive, capped by Ethan Jordan’s 1-yard toss to Sam Cross.
A short Bonny Eagle punt gave Cheverus possession at the Scots’ 22 to set up the Stags’ go-ahead touchdown.
It was the first Class A final under the new alignment that placed Cheverus and the other Portland city schools in Eastern Maine, with Bonny Eagle, South Portland, Scarborough and York County schools in the West.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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