LEWISTON — A scoreless standoff in the first half meant whoever asserted themselves early in the second half of Saturday night’s Pine Tree Conference semifinal would have a major advantage.

Perhaps sensing this, Lewiston took the opening drive of the third quarter 80 yards in 10 plays to the lead, and never looked back.

No. 4 Lewiston scored on its first three possessions of the second half to pull away from No. 8 Brunswick and secure its first appearance in a Pine Tree Conference championship game since 2002 with a 20-7 victory at Don Roux Field.

The Blue Devils (8-2) will travel north to face No. 2 Bangor next Friday night. The Dragons, who knocked out top-seeded and unbeaten Lawrence in the quarterfinals, finish their season at 6-4.

“We stepped it up. Our line played amazing,” said senior tackle Eliot Chicoine, who led a line that paved the way for 180 rushing yards in the second half. “Our running backs capitalized on the O-line’s blocks. We knew what we had to do and we just pounded the ball down their throats.”

Joe McKinnon (17 carries, 87 yards) and Jeff Keene did most of the pounding. Keene was a two-way terror, rushing for 86 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries while coming up with two interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense.

“We’re a family. We come out and play as a team every single game now,” Keene said. “The coaches told us to relax, have fun, go out there and pound it down their throat and we did just that.”

The initial series of the second half set the tone. Starting at their own 20, the Devils ran the ball 10 straight times with Keene, McKinnon, Jeff Turcotte (11 carries, 39 yards) and QB Chris Madden. The drive culminated with Keene taking a handoff around the right side 25 yards for the score that put the Devils up for good with 6:52 left in the third.

“We didn’t make a big adjustment (to start the second half),” County said. “I thought Brunswick did a great job of mixing up their fronts. We really felt like if we just kept the course, if we kept doing what we were doing… A couple of minor blocking adjustments that we made, but I think the difference was that we did what we did and made a commitment not to get out of our character.”

Keene recovered a fumble on Brunswick’s first possession at the Dragon 36. Three plays later, Madden (4-for-5, 50 yards, TD) threw to Cody Dussault in the right flat. The defender trailing Dussault slipped, and the Lewiston tight end had nothing but open field in front of him for a 20-yard score and a 13-0 lead with 2:17 to go in the quarter.

“They really came out and out-physicaled us there on that first drive. We coughed it up the next series and lost our poise,” Brunswick coach Dan Cooper said.

The Dragons took their next drive into Lewiston territory, but QB Ezra Drehobl slipped and fell to the saturated ground for an 8t-yard loss on second down, effectively killing the drive.

After a punt, the Blue Devils took over at its own 24. A 29-yard run by McKinnon, followed immediately by a 14-yard jaunt by Turcotte, put them at Brunswick’s 38. Madden and Dussault connected again for a 16-yard pass  on 4th-and-9 to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Keene scored from a yard out, and the Devils held a commanding 20-0 lead with 5:54 remaining.

Brunswick spoiled the shutout on a 1-yard sneak by Kyle Franklin with 2:11 to go, but Lewiston recovered the on-side kick attempt and ran out the clock.

Both teams had promising drives snuffed by turnovers early in the game. Lewiston reached Brunswick’s 29, but the Dragons recovered a Caleb Johnson fumble after he caught a pass from Madden at the 17.

A 50-yard run by Jordan Rysdham (13 carries, 111 yards) tilted the field in the Dragons’ favor, but Dussault recovered a Pablo Maderal fumble at the Devils’ 31 to end that threat.

Keene had interceptions on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, but the Devils weren’t able to take advantage. Drehobl returned the favor by picking off a halfback pass by Keene at his own 11 late in the first half.

Next week’s game with Bangor will be Lewiston’s sixth playoff meeting with Bangor since 2001. The Rams won the first four meetings, but Lewiston won the most recent two years ago, 34-26, in the quarterfinals.

“We’re ready,” Keene said. “We are ready to go up there and win a football game.”

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