WALES — Twice in the second quarter, Oak Hill had the ball inside the Dirigo 15. Twice, the Cougars came up with a stop.

Oak Hill had one more chance in its Campbell Conference Class C semifinal football game Saturday, but once again, Dirigo shut down the Raiders.

Dirigo’s Thomas Barnett broke up a pass on fourth and 6 from the Dirigo 19 with 1 minute, 18 seconds to play and the Cougars, who took the lead on two long touchdown runs by Spencer Trenoweth, held on to beat Oak Hill 13-6 and advance to the regional final.

“When you are in the playoffs, any time you get in the red zone it is important to execute,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “Our kids played hard and give Dirigo credit, they played harder and they made the plays in the red zone.”

No. 3 Dirigo improves to 8-2 and advances to play No. 1 Winslow, which beat Traip 7-0 on Saturday, in the Western C final. No. 2 Oak Hill ends the season 8-2.

Two weeks ago, these two teams played in the regular-season finale and Oak Hill rolled to a 33-0 victory. It looked like the Raiders would have chances to break the game open in the second quarter, but they couldn’t capitalize. Oak Hill reached the Dirigo 11, but the drive stalled when the Raiders took two penalties and threw three incomplete passes.

The Raiders then took over at the Dirigo 26 when Trenoweth fumbled and reached the 8, but Kaine Hutchins stuffed Kyle Flaherty for no gain on third and 4, then quarterback Parker Asselin was forced out of the pocket and came up inches short on fourth down.

“They are a great offense, Stacen has done a great job with them,” Dirigo coach Dave Crutchfield said. “They marched the ball down the field. Whenever you can stop that double wing, you’ve got to have a smile.”

Oak Hill finally got on the board in the third quarter when Flaherty capped a 73-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run. The Raiders missed the extra point and led 6-0.

That lead lasted less than a minute, as Trenoweth broke off a 70-yard TD run to tie the game. Nelson Pepin’s PAT made it 7-6.

“I just noticed that their front line was huge so I had to get through their front line,” Trenoweth said. “The line was opening huge holes today. Once I got through the front line I didn’t look back.”

Oak Hill got into Dirigo territory three more times in the second half, but was unable to move past the 37 until the game’s final drive. Trenoweth pushed the lead to 13-6 when he scored from 51-yards out with 5:28 left in regulation.

Scott Martin — 621-5618

smartin@centralmaine.com

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