Game 2: Leavitt 20, Yarmouth 12. For the second consecutive year, Yarmouth – a team that dominated the old Class C in back-to-back years before Leavitt, Cape, Wells and Spruce Mountain dropped in as a result of reclassification – gave the Hornets fits. Leavitt appeared to find its groove by jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. Craig connected with Mitchel Davis for a 7-yard score and hit Max Green from 21 yards out. The Clippers stormed back to within 14-12 late in the third. Leavitt turned away both a two-point conversion and another potential Yarmouth scoring drive before effectively putting the game away. Craig’s third TD pass of the night to a third different target, 22 yards to Seeley, sealed the Hornets’ place in the win column. A year ago, Leavitt rallied in the fourth quarter for a 14-7 victory over Yarmouth in what was by far the closest game of its state championship season.
Game 3: Leavitt 58, Gray-New Gloucester 7. Craig had what was a career for many high school quarterbacks in the first half against the Patriots. He threw six touchdowns and accumulated 350 yards before the teams retreated to the locker room. As was the case all season, the aerial assault was divided among Craig’s three favorite targets. Seeley caught scoring passes of 30 and 10 yards. Davis hauled in TDs of 30 and 70 yards. Green took it in from 12 and 24 yards. Craig completed 13 of his 20 attempts. Leavitt got plenty of productivity from its second wave, as well, with Bryce Hudson throwing a 20-yard score to Isaiah Calder and Caleb Bowen adding a 17-yard TD run. Gray-NG broke up the shutout in the closing minutes.
Game 4: Leavitt 52, Poland 6. The Knights had home field, their first 2-1 start in many years and a wealth of confidence on their side. The Hornets evaporated all that in a matter of minutes, scoring five touchdowns in the first seven minutes. Craig aired out four more touchdowns, including strikes of 84 and 21 yards to Green. Seeley and Davis each caught one. Kirouac and Craig rushed for TDs before both teams exercised liberal substitution. Craig was 9 for 17 for 331 yards. “Right now our receivers and quarterbacks are on the same page and the line is doing a good job of protecting them,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said after the game. “It is a spread offense. We want to spread it around. Levi did a good job using all his receivers tonight.”
Game 5: Leavitt 58, Lake Region 14. The Hornets’ homecoming game was set back 21 hours by wet weather, but the delay did nothing to slow down its streaking offense. Seeley caught four of Craig’s five touchdowns, and Craig ran for another. Craig was nearly perfect, picking apart the Lakers with 14 of 17 for 271 yards. Seeley’s touchdown catches covered 40 and 15 yards in the first quarter and 39 and 37 yards in the second. Green also added a touchdown grab in the opening stanza. It was 44-0 at the half. Lake Region scored twice in the third period, but Isiah Trask ended that run with a 70-yard kick return for a score. D’Andre James tacked on a late score.
Game 6: Leavitt 60, Mountain Valley 13. The Hornets hung 61 on the Falcons at home a year ago and were just as productive in their first visit to Chet Bulger Field in more than a decade. It was the Craig-to-Seeley Show again, accounting for three of the Hornets’ five touchdowns through the air. Billy Bedard also had his biggest game of the season, rushing for 148 yards and two scores in addition to a TD catch of 39 yards. Green chalked up a scoring reception for the Hornets. Leavitt led 40-0 at halftime. “We don’t have a big offensive line and a slew of runners like last year,” Hathaway said of the Hornets’ propensity to throw, “so we’ve had to move people to areas where they can be most productive.”
Game 7: Leavitt 26, Wells 19. Hard to imagine a night that could rival Cape Elizabeth for intensity and end-of-game drama, but this trip to Warrior Memorial Field managed that and more. Leavitt fell behind 13-0 and 19-6 at Wells’ homecoming before finding its footing. Craig went deep to Green just before the half to get the Hornets within seven. Calder tackled Wells’ punter after a bad snap to trigger Leavitt’s go-ahead drive in the third. Bedard rushed for the score and the two points, and Craig added a TD run with under two minutes to go in the fourth. But it was defense that won this one. Bedard’s knocked down a pass in the end zone to finish a goal-line stand in the closing seconds. Prior to that, Taylor Woodbury and Adam Smith combined for three sacks, Chandler Lajoie made an interception, and Leavitt held Wells to minus-2 yards rushing in the second half.
Game 8: Leavitt 28, Spruce Mountain 14. With playoff home field advantage riding on the new rivalry game for the second consecutive year, three Hornets’ interceptions turned the tide. Leavitt trailed 14-12 at halftime before Davis picked off a pass to end the first Phoenix drive of the third quarter. Kirouac capped the ensuing drive with the go-ahead TD. Seeley and Davis also had leaping interceptions at the goal line. Will Parkin, Woodbury, Smith and Davis led a Leavitt defense that didn’t allow a point after Spruce scored its second TD with 8:05 remaining in the first half. Offensively, Craig was 13 of 16 for 238 yards and touchdowns to Seeley and Green. Calder added an insurance TD.
Game 9: Leavitt 60, Lake Region 28 (C West quarterfinal). The Hornets encountered a hungry and creative Lakers team, but the No. 8 seed ultimately was overmatched by Leavitt’s ability to score touchdowns quickly and in bunches. Calder’s interception set up a Kirouac TD run for a 14-6 lead. It was 14-9 late in the second quarter before Craig rifled twin 21-yard TD passes to Green and Davis. Calder cashed in two TD runs in the first three minutes of the third period to put it away. Craig completed 19 of 29 for 294 yards and two TDs for Leavitt. Bedard, Christian Callahan and Tyler Green added TD runs.
Game 10: Leavitt 30, Yarmouth 6 (C West semifinal). Parkin’s jarring hit and Lajoie’s fumble recovery halted the Clippers’ opening drive and sent the Hornets on their way to a 24-0 halftime lead. Yarmouth managed only 12 first-half yards after that turnover. Craig’s connection to Green and two TD keepers, along with three conversions, accounted for the insurmountable lead. Bedard’s TD grab put the finishing touches on a 95-yard march in the second half. Green led the Hornets with four catches for 80 yards. Bedard also had four catches for 75 yards. Davis had four receptions for 64 yards, while Gabe Seeley plucked a pair for 47 yards.
Game 11: Leavitt 14, Wells 9 (C West final). It was a championship game that will be remembered for mud, defense and a highlight-film hookup from Craig to Green. After neither team mustered a first down for most of the opening quarter, the 46-yard bomb into double coverage gave Leavitt a 6-0 lead that looked like it would hold up at the half. Wells’ Chris Carney went 53 yards in the final minute, however, and it took Green’s touchdown-saving tackle and an ensuing three-play defensive stand to hold the Warriors to a field goal. Craig ran for a TD and passed to Davis for two points and a 14-3 edge late in the third. Carney nearly brought the Warriors all the way back, scoring in the opening minute of the fourth and then driving Wells to the Leavitt 22. But the Hornets stopped him on fourth down and drained enough time from the clock to safeguard the win. Leavitt was held to 200 yards, its lowest output in four years.
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