Kennebunk/Falmouth III

Everyone in the state had the rubber match of Kennebunk and Falmouth pegged as one of the best games of the weekend and it wasn't hard to see why. Last year, Falmouth beat Kennebunk in the State game to capture their first Gold Ball. Then earlier this year, the Rams won a thriller, 14-10. That set them up to get this 2/3 semifinal at home.

Kennebunk opened the scoring with an Austin West rushing touchdown, then Jaiden Homa threw a touchdown pass to QB Sam Matthews, and the champs were on the ropes, on the road, in the wind.

The Navs finally got on the board late in the first half on a dime from Tres Walker to Ben Robbins to cut the lead to 14-7 at the half and make it a game.

In the second half things got interesting.

Let's go to the third quarter. The Navs have the ball at the 4 yard line on 4th & Goal.

I thought in real time he was in and he looks in when you slow it down, at least from that angle, but it's clearly a bang-bang play and one where you'd throw the red challenge flag if you could. But you can't.

A Kennebunk fan might counter with a very generous catch ruling that kept the first Falmouth touchdown drive alive. And they wouldn't be wrong (it was a really bad call).

So basically what I'm saying is you can either look at it was 2 calls that canceled each other out. Or you can pick one to be mad about. Up to you.

Falmouth's defense gets a 3 and out with Kennebunk backed up and when they get the ball back, Walker finds Robbins again to tie the score and Falmouth seems to have all the momentum. And when they've got Kennebunk in a 4th and 15, it looks dire for Kennebunk. Then Sam Matthews scrambles and somehow keeps his legs going long enough to pick up the first down. Tack on a penalty at the end of the play and the Rams are in the red zone. West scores on the next play and suddenly Falmouth is on the ropes.

But Walker won't be denied. He leads Falmouth down the field with clutch throw after clutch throw, converting his own 4th and 7. Then with 29 seconds left, he runs a no doubter into the end zone.

But Falmouth misses the extra point, the onside kick fails, and Kennebunk escapes with a thrilling 21-20 victory.

The real shame is it felt like a game where we deserved overtime. So it goes.

After the game, I spoke to Kennebunk RB Austin West about the win.

The Rams advance to play Westbrook. The Blue Blazes rallied to defeat Marshwood 15-12 thanks to Gio Staples' second TD of the game.

Elsewhere

Trot Moody accounted for 6 touchdowns as OOB put up 74 on Traip...They'll play Stearns, who put up 64 on Dexter...Portland raced out to a 28-0 lead and held on to put away Deering. They'll take on Bangor...Thornton Academy got 2 picks from Brayden Hooper, including a pick 6 to beat SoPo...Bonny Eagle ran for 241 yards in beating Noble...Anderson Noyes ran for 4 scores as Cony blanked Messo...Ty Boone scored 4 of his own to lead Fryeburg past Lawrence...Leavitt scored on their first 4 drives to make short work of Foxcroft...Sam Hopkins and Tyler Corson each scored twice in Hermon's win over Nokomis...Jacob Feith threw for 2 scores and ran for another as Winthrop rolled. They'll take on the 6 seed Morse after the Shipbuilders knocked off Dirigo. The Model is 0-2 on Morse games in the playoffs and 28-3

Back in September, Gardiner won a thriller in overtime against Wells. Last night, it was more of the same, only with a different ending.

Mike Mandell was there.

Wells football staves off Gardiner for Class C South quarterfinal win

The Warriors make two late defensive stands to advance to next week’s semifinals against Greely.

The Portland Press HeraldMike Mandell

Over on the Hoffer's High School Sports podcast, Hoffer interviewed Maine coaching legend Bob Brown.

Hoffer’s High School Sports podcast, Episode 11...Bob Brown

This week’s podcast guest is legendary high school basketball coach Bob Brown. Coach Brown talks about his love of the game, his many coaching stops, his family, local sensation Cooper Flagg, the importance of holding on to a lucky belt and much, much more. To listen, click play below.

Hoffer's High School SportsMichael Hoffer

Larry Mahoney has a feature on Lizzy Gruber's return to Maine.

After 2 years away, this Maine basketball star is ready to play for her home state

Lizzy Gruber is returning from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia to don the University of Maine colors.

Bangor Daily NewsLarry Mahoney

Gruber had 3 points off the bench in Maine's 1-point loss to St. Joseph's.

Game of the Day

Lot of options.

We're handing out Gold Balls in field hockey and soccer and you can't go wrong with a Gold Ball Game.

In Field Hockey, Class C is the choice. Foxcroft Academy is a slight favorite over Spruce Mountain.

In Girls Soccer, Hermon is favored over Cape. That's the highest Stax Index of the day at 90.4. Actually, it's the highest Stax Index of the year for soccer.

In Boys Soccer, Monmouth is a very small favorite over Fort Fairfield.

But in Football, Spruce Mountain is hosting Mt. Ararat in an 8-Man Regional Final. Both teams have top 10 scoring offenses. The Stax Index loves teams that score a lot because a 42-40 game is way more fun than a 6-3 rock fight.

I'll be honest. I don't have a great read on Spruce. They are 5th in the state in scoring differential in only 7 games, but the schedule hasn't been that strong. Mt. Ararat is coming off a dominant performance against Yarmouth. The Model might be wrong on this one.

It has Spruce by 3.8.

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.