PORTLAND — There was no backfield-by-committee on Saturday for Oak Hill.
No hemming, hawing and breaking into a cold sweat on this most January of November days about what plays to run, either.
The Raiders entered Fitzpatrick Stadium and the Class D football championship with not even the hint of an identity crisis. Oak Hill knew who it was, what it wanted and how it intended to get there.
Who and how were neatly summarized by Kyle Flaherty taking handoffs or tosses and running through whatever bodies were left after Luke Washburn knocked Bucksport’s would-be tacklers on their fanny.
And the what was cradled in Flaherty’s leather-calloused hands as his teammates hoisted him above the pile of humanity near midfield: Oak Hill’s first Gold Ball in 31 years, courtesy of a wild 42-35 victory over Bucksport.
Flaherty carried the ball 42 times for 218 yards and three touchdowns, numbers that nobody under these circumstances and standing in this hottest of spotlights could comprehend.
“Wow. I really didn’t know,” Flaherty said. “I just take the ball when Coach tells me to. I try my best.”
That coach, Stacen Doucette, has doled out the carries in relatively even numbers between Flaherty and junior classmate Alex Mace the past two years. Together, they accounted for more than 3,000 all-purpose yards this dream season.
Mace did his share of damage Saturday, too, catching two long touchdown passes from Parker Asselin. Those strikes were set up by Flaherty’s relentless work between the tackles and behind Washburn, his 250-pound, Division I-caliber H-back.
“He takes care of the ball,” Doucette explained. “No turnovers. The game plan was just if we found an itch, we were going to scratch it.”
Bucksport’s bevy of playmakers answered almost every Oak Hill quick strike or grinding series with an authoritative counterpunch.
The previously undefeated Golden Bucks never had a physical answer, though, for Washburn, or for Flaherty, or for the vastly underappreciated offensive line that includes Bayley Beaulieu, Kody Voisine, Austin Goucher, Garrett Gile, Garrett Labbe, Michael Pease and Brandon Tervo.
“Today was Kyle’s day. It goes back and forth, Kyle and Alex have their days, and today Kyle had a fantastic day,” Washburn said. “He really stepped it up for us. It amazes me how he can break for 20 yards at a time and the first thing he says when he comes back to the huddle is, ‘I’m doing it for you guys.’ It’s so nice to have Kyle on the team. He’s a really great player.”
Flaherty’s first touchdown of the day capped a 15-play, 69-yard drive that answered an opening 32-yard salvo by Bucksport fullback Gabe Stearns.
He tore through the heart of the Bucks’ line 10 more times on a series that ended in Asselin’s sneak to give the Raiders their first lead, 21-14, with 1:46 remaining in the first half.
For all his offensive exploits, Flaherty’s biggest moment of the day might have been his 53-yard punt with 8:09 to go in the third quarter and the score tied at 21.
Pease’s sack, strip and recovery of Matt Stewart’s fumble on the next play set up Flaherty’s 1-yard plunge for a go-ahead touchdown.
“We said a kid would make a play. Every kid on our team is expected to work hard all game, and someone’s going to step up,” Doucette said. “Kyle is an unbelievable athlete. As good as he is as a football player, he’s a better person. Kyle Flaherty is probably one of the best athletes I’ve seen. He is the best tailback in the Campbell Conference.”
Flaherty ran on seven of eight plays bridging the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth. Sufficiently expecting more of the same on fourth-and-5, Bucksport watched Asselin go deep to Mace for 28 yards.
Oak Hill was ahead to stay, 35-28, with 10:54 to play.
Asselin hit Kyle Tervo for 27 yards to the Bucks’ 22 on Oak Hill’s next series. Flaherty finished it with four straight runs from there, capped by a 3-yard dive.
“We work hard all year and we try to be the best-shape team, and I think that was the outcome and the difference in this game,” Flaherty said.
On the Raiders’ final touchdown, Flaherty and Mace lined up on the opposite wings from where Doucette wanted them.
The coach had the juniors flip-flop prior to the play. Based on Flaherty’s proximity to Washburn, it was clear that he would get the ball.
Bucksport still couldn’t stop it.
“He’s the reason we’ve gotten so far this year, honestly, I’ll say that,” Flaherty said of Washburn. “We run right behind him, and the holes he makes for us I can’t even describe. You can drive a truck through them.”
The truck that starts the victory parade, perhaps.
“I’ve imagined it a lot,” Washburn said. “I’ve imagined it since I started playing football in middle school. I don’t know how to explain it.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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