FAIRFIELD — Afterward, Lawrence coach John Hersom said he thought Brewer was the most improved football team in Eastern B this season. But Hersom’s team is in a nice turnaround season of its own.

One year after finishing 2-6, the Bulldogs are in the Eastern B semifinals after polishing off Brewer, 34-14, on Friday night at Keyes Field.

Cody Martin threw four touchdown passes and ran for Lawrence’s other score. Martin finished 15 of 20 passing for 307 yards. Dustin Simpson-Bragg and Seth Powers each caught a pair of Martin’s touchdown passes.

The biggest touchdown toss came with the score tied 14-14 late in the second quarter. Lawrence took over on its own 38-yard-line with 18.7 seconds left. On first down, Martin threw short to Powers, who broke a few tackles on his way to a 23-yard gain.

The Bulldogs called timeout with 9.6 seconds left and the ball on the Brewer 39. Martin threw deep and Simpson-Bragg caught the ball inside the 5 before falling into the end zone on the last play of the half.

“I dropped back, I was looking to my right, and I saw him wide open,” Martin said. “I kind of underthrew it a bit, so he had to come back to it. It was just a good play.”

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Brewer went up 2-0 on a safety on the opening kickoff. After Martin hit Powers with a 37-yard touchdown pass, Brewer’s Austin Lufkin recovered a bad Lawrence snap in the end zone for an 8-7 Brewer lead. The Witches made it 14-7 when Logan Rogerson hit Tyler Hafford from 17 yards out midway through the second quarter.

The Bulldogs tied it up on a 14-play, 61-yard drive, capped by Martin sprinting right end for a 3-yard run. Walker Thomas blocked off the last Brewer defender who had a chance to beat Martin to the corner.

Lawrence went for two points after each of its final three touchdowns because of an injury to kicker/standout defender Chad Martin, who was leaning on a crutch during the second half. Cody Martin said he thought Chad’s injury was to his ankle.

Ahead 20-14 at the half, the Bulldogs stopped Brewer on fourth and 1 at the Witches’ 42, then scored on Martin’s 18-yard pass to Simpson-Bragg. After a Brewer punt, Martin found Powers on the bomb for a 52-yard play and a 34-14 lead.

The way the Bulldogs protected that lead was the opposite of the way they built it. Lawrence stayed almost entirely on the ground in the fourth quarter, and controlled the clock for all but 1:03 of the period.

“I think that when we really got the cushion that we were hoping to have, we were able to settle down a little bit and move the chains with our running game,” Hersom said.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo


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