FIVE YEARS AGO …
Oxford Hills, playing in its first regional final in 18 years, fell to Portland in overtime 21-14 on Nov. 9, 2018. Zack Elowitch’s 7-yard run on the opening possession of overtime put the Bulldogs up by a score. Oxford Hills quarterback Colton Carson then ran 9 yards inside the Portland 1-yard line, but a false start moved the Vikings back 5 yards, and then Carson and a running back collided and Portland’s Jonah Green was there to strip the ball away and seal the Bulldogs’ fifth regional title in six seasons. The following day, the top-seeded Leavitt Hornets, playing heavy hearts due to the death that week of assistant coach Pete Casey, lost a heartbreaker to Fryeburg 20-13. Earlier that day, Dirigo lost the Class E final to Freeport 28-13. Class E was a short-lived solution to help teams rebuild their rosters while playing against teams in similar situations. The Class E final wasn’t officially considered a championship game. The following year, Class E was replaced by 8-man football.
42 YEARS AGO …
Lisbon earned a shot at the Class C state title game when Jay upset Livermore Falls on Nov. 6, 1981, which gave Lisbon a shot at the Class C state title the following week. Following a 31-yard pass by Bill Hartley to John Corneilo, Gary Levesque ran 3 yards for a score. Jack Ouellette followed with the extra point that would be the difference in the game. Late in the game, Livermore Falls’ Darryl Coombs found Mark Pare in the end zone. The Andies lined up to go for two points and the win but were docked 5 yards due to a delay of game penalty, and then their game-tying extra point kick deflected off the crossbar. The loss dropped Livermore Falls to 6-2, meaning 7-1 Lisbon would play in the state final a week later at Walton Field in Auburn (the Greyhounds ended up losing to Marshwood). At Walton Field on Nov. 7, Edward Little finished off its third consecutive sweep of the two-game series against Lewiston with a 33-7 victory. The sixth straight victory over their rivals was a new record for the Red Eddies. Bruce Noddin scored twice in the first half to give Edward Little a 14-7 halftime lead. A 74-yard run by Mark Coutts (who ran for 178 yards) and touchdowns by Bill Reynolds and Scott Larue helped Edward Little pull away with TDs in the third. Lewiston’s TD came on a 35-yard pass from Scott Paquette to Mark Rodrigue.
65 YEARS AGO …
Lewiston avenged a loss to its rival earlier in the year by defeating Edward Little 26-6 in a Tuesday, Nov. 11, 1958, contest. The Blue Devils scored three of their four touchdowns in the second quarter: a 2-yard run by Larry Turcotte, a 20-yard pass from Bob Bazinet to John Doyle and a Roger Caux 36-yard run. Edward Little’s Mel Jodrey ran from 56 yards out for the Eddies’ only TD, and Bazinet added a 2-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter. That same day in Rumford, Frank Bedard broke five tackles as he twisted and romped his way to a 28-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes to give Stephens a 25-19 victory over Mexico. Steve Prinn threw a pair of TD passes for the Panthers, to Jim Elliot and Henry Boucher, and scored on a 2-yard run. Tim Kelcourse had two touchdowns for the Pintos and Art Leavitt scored one. In Farmington, Wilton Academy defeated Farmington 15-6. Duffy Maguire’s 12-yard touchdown run put the Greys up 6-0 in the first quarter, but the Eagles evened the score on a 40-yard TD scamper by Charlie Holmes and then took the lead when Len Smith scored from 2 yards out.
75 YEARS AGO …
The Associated Press reported that South Portland athletics director Hank Lavallee suggested that Maine’s high school football officials devise a point system to help pick a state champion. He said it was too late to do so for the current season, but he used it as an example of why such a system was needed. John Bapst finished the 1948 campaign undefeated with one tie against an unspectacular. Edward Little, Rumford and South Portland each finished with one loss. Lavallee said South Portland would play a postseason game if the state title was on the line. The Lewiston Evening Journal sports editor Norman S. Thomas followed that story with a note that suggested that since Edward Little “licked” both Rumford and South Portland, the other one-loss teams, in the regular season, that the Red Eddies would be most deserving of a matchup with John Bapst for the state championship. A few days later, on Sunday, Nov. 14, 1948, the St. Dominic’s football team shut out Mount St. Charles (of Woonsocket, Rhode Island) 13-0. St. Dom’s scored both touchdowns in the first half. The first was a 26-yard interception return by Ray Cromeau. The second came after “the Doms” recovered a fumble at the Mount St. Charles 20-yard line late in the first quarter, then early in the second Norm Blais, making his return after sitting out a month due injury, ran three times to cover the final 16 yards. The Lewiston Evening Journal wrote that, “The Woonsocket team seemed to have a minimum of knowledge in the arts of blocking and tackling.”
Editor’s note: The years were selected using an online random number generator, and the information taken from the Sun Journal archives.
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