Morning Sentinel
EAGLES REVEL IN PLAYOFF WIN
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BY TRAVIS LAZARCZYK
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 11/03/2009

BY TRAVIS LAZARCZYK

Staff Writer

Since Messalonskee earned its first playoff win in 11 years with its 14-6 victory Friday against Lewiston, Eagles coach Wes Littlefield has received congratulations from a number of fans.

"I've heard from a lot of people in the community. Older people, those are the people I've heard from," Littlefield said.

It was Messalonskee's first playoff victory since moving up to Class A in 2001. Prior to beating the Blue Devils, Messalonskee's last postseason win came in the first round of the Little Ten Conference Class B playoffs in 1998. That season, the Eagles beat Mt. Desert Island 42-0 in the conference quarterfinals.

Messalonskee (6-3) plays Friday at top-ranked and unbeaten Bangor (9-0). Bangor beat Messalonskee 13-12 in September, but the Eagles held the Rams to a season-low point total.

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Lawrence and Brunswick didn't play each other in the regular season. The teams were scheduled to scrimmage each other in the preseason, but rain shortened that scrimmage to just a handful of plays for each team.

That was so long ago that Lawrence coach John Hersom doesn't expect to cull any info on the Dragons from the experience.

"We wouldn't revert that far (back)," Hersom said.

Hersom said the Dragons compare to Messalonskee.

"They're pretty similar to Messalonskee, as far as size goes. They've got some big kids up front," Hersom said. "They have a big fullback."

The Bulldogs and Dragons shared six common opponents in the regular season: Edward Little, Oxford Hills, Messalonskee, Lewiston, Skowhegan and Brewer. Lawrence was 7-0 against those six teams (including a playoff win against Skowhegan last week), while Brunswick went 5-1, losing to Messalonskee in Week 3.

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Littlefield made an unorthodox coaching decision late in Friday's game that showed he's not afraid to do the unexpected and that he trusts his defense's ability to make a big play.

The Eagles faced a third-and-nine and had the ball on their own 45-yard line. Lewiston just used its final timeout, leaving Messalonskee with 1 minute, 36 seconds on the clock and an eight-point lead.

Littlefield called a pass play. Under pressure, Dylan Foster's throw to Desmond Nutter in the left flat fell incomplete, stopping the clock. After Messalonskee punted, Lewiston took over on it own 36 with 1:21 remaining.

Had the Eagles run the ball on third down and had to punt, they would have given the Blue Devils the ball back with less than a minute to play.

Littlefield said that was a consideration, but added if the pass had been complete, the Eagles would have been able to take a knee on first down and run out the clock without giving the ball back to Lewiston at all.

"We took a chance," Littlefield said.

Littlefield's faith in his defense was warranted. Leading up to the final possession, Lewiston had only sustained one drive of more than 50 yards the entire game. That ended on downs at the Messalonskee 5 late in the first half, and 42 of that drives' 59 yards came on one play, a quick pass from Seth Mason to Peter Blais that Blais caught at the line of scrimmage and broke for a 42-yard gain.

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Week 9 honor roll: Messalonskee's Sam Dexter had two interceptions in the Eagles' quarterfinal win against Lewiston. The second came at the Messalonskee 15 with two minutes left. ... Desmond Nutter ran for 112 yards and scored on a 7-yard touchdown run for Messalonskee. ... Christian Powers ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the Bulldogs' quarterfinal win against Skowhegan. Powers also made a fourth-and-one tackle in the second quarter to stall a Skowhegan drive. ... Shawn Bennett ran for a touchdown and threw for another for MCI in the Huskies' 28-13 loss to Stearns. ... Johnny McCabe made a dozen tackles for Winslow in a quarterfinal loss at Gardiner.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

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