Kevin Haskell of Edward Little High School runs down Lewiston running back Danny May in Auburn last Friday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Lewiston and Edward Little had a lot to review from last week’s classic at Walton Field, and one less day than they initially expected to rework it.
Both teams learned Wednesday that their Class A North first-round game had been moved up from 12:30 p.m. on Saturday to 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Perhaps that was plenty of time for both to recover from the emotional roller-coaster that was last Friday’s prequel at Walton Field, which Edward Little won 26-22 on Leighton Girardin’s 38-yard touchdown run with 52.4 seconds left.
The 176th Battle of the Bridge may not be topped for drama and late heroics, but the 177th will probably be remembered longer by the winner and loser, because it will determine who has another week of football and an A North semifinal date with top-seeded Portland.
Lewiston (2-6) left Walton Field pondering the opportunities it didn’t seize as well as the turnovers and penalties that increased EL’s opportunities.
The Blue Devils mostly kept Girardin contained inside the numbers and kept him from the big plays the Red Eddies (4-4) rely on him to produce with his legs and arm. They also picked him off twice.
On offense, Lewiston played power football, featuring senior tailback Hunter Landry, who was also QB Tanner Cortes’ favorite passing target. Sophomore running back Danny May was involved in everything, including a 58-yard halfback pass for a touchdown to Dylon Jackson. But the Blue Devils were unable to finish off a number of drives that started with a short field, particularly in the second half.
Edward Little’s defense was backed up in its own end for much of the second half, but only gave up Landry’s 15-yard TD run that put Lewiston up 22-20 with 1:41 to go. Playing their first game without injured three-year starter Kevin Lachance, the Red Eddies got a big early turnover on Josh Kaiser’s 33-yard fumble recovery and score.
EL’s offense boasts two of the top three receivers in A North, Josh Hamel and Ricky Cote. Like May for Lewiston, Cote showed his versatility with a TD pass to Caleb Yarnevich to answer Lewiston’s trick play. Expect some more wrinkles from both teams this Friday night.
It was the second game in a row that the Red Eddies rallied late for the win. They beat South Portland, 21-20 in Week 7. And EL struck in the final minute of each half last Friday. Girardin threw on the run to a leaping Hamel in the end zone to snatch the halftime lead from Lewiston.
EL still has a ways to go to grab the all-time series lead, which is Lewiston’s at 93-71-12. But the Red Eddies have captured their playoff meetings in the 2008 regional semifinal (28-7) and 2002 regional final (16-13 in double-OT). Both games were also played at Walton Field.
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