DIXFIELD — When it comes to weather, Oak Hill seniors Kyle Flaherty and Alex Mace will take snow over rain any day.

One week after getting stuck in the mud in a rainy one-point win over Maranacook, the Raiders bounced back in fine fashion with a 25-6 win over Dirigo in the Western Maine Class D football semifinals at snowy Harlow Park.

“It definitely woke us up,” Mace said of Oak Hill’s 7-6 win over Maranacook in the quarterfinals. “Our eyes opened. We knew what we were up against.”

“It gave us a taste of what it’s like to lose and we didn’t want to give that up our senior season,” Flaherty added. “We came to work last Monday and we worked hard every day.”

Flaherty paced the Raiders with 140 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, while Mace carried the ball 11 times for one touchdown and 113 yards — the bulk of which came on a 75-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

Both agreed that after struggling with their footwork in the mud last week that it was much easier to get traction Friday night in Dixfield.

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“We practiced our mud offenses all week. We practiced for the worst,” Flaherty said. “If it had been bad we would have practiced for that but we had good field conditions so we were able to cut.”

The Raiders displayed that ability off the opening drive, going 69 yards on 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead midway through the opening quarter on a touchdown plunge from one yard out by Flaherty.

Flaherty added another touchdown run — this time from three yards out — on the third play of the second quarter to ultimately give the Raiders a 12-0 lead at halftime.

Out of the break the Cougars showed they were not ready to go quietly, however, as Dirigo cut the deficit to 12-6 when Riley Robinson capped off a seven-play, 45-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

Once again though, Mace and Flaherty had the answer as the two split carries on a 12-play, 55-yard drive that Flaherty capped off with another one-yard run to make it 19-6 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.

“I give all the credit to the line,” Flaherty said. “There was a huge surge every play, like a blue wave — well, white wave — but they just came through today. I can’t thank them enough.”

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The back-breaker for the Cougars came on the ensuing possession after driving it down to a 3rd-and-9 situation at the Raiders’ 25-yard line. That was where the drive stalled, however, as a gang of Oak Hill tacklers combined to bring down Robinson for a 13-yard loss.

The Dirigo quarterback’s fourth-down prayer was not answered, turning it over on downs and one play later Mace delivered the knockout punch with 75-yard touchdown run.

“All credit to the line,” Mace said. “There was a giant hole. They took me all the way.”

The Raiders forced a punt on the next Dirigo possession and that would be the last time the Cougars touched the ball.

Oak Hill has had success out of a number of different offensive formations throughout the season, but Friday night they relied heavily on the double wing and used it to run out the final 8:57 on the clock to clinch its spot in the Western D finals.

“If we have an itch, we scratch it,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “We feel that we do a bunch of different things. We feature different plays and different offenses. We go with what’s working. We feel we’re difficult to defend at times.”

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The Raiders will face the winner of No. 1 Lisbon and No. 4 Old Orchard Beach, who play Saturday in Lisbon Falls.

Evan Crawley—621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley


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