OAKLAND — Messalonskee coach Brad Bishop dismissed his underclassmen to talk with his assistants shortly after Friday night’s 43-15 loss to Brewer at Veterans Field on Friday night.

With his seniors still at attention, Bishop reminded them next week’s season finale could mean their season, as well as their careers. If Lawrence beats Nokomis Saturday, the Eagles and Bulldogs could be battling for the final Pine Tree Conference Class B playoff spot next Friday at Veterans Field.

“The winning team will probably go to the playoffs,” he said.

Bishop also told his leaders the Eagles couldn’t start like they did against a physical Brewer team, which dominated the first half and never lost control of the game to improve to 6-1.

Dylan Severance rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns to lead Brewer. Ray Wood added 72 yards and two TDs for the Witches, who jumped out to a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Austin Pelletier scored on a QB sneak for the Eagles (3-4), who were playing without fullback Jack Bernatchez. Tailback Colby Dexter left the game with what appeared to be a broken nose after a hard hit in the third quarter. He finished with 31 yards rushing on six carries.

Advertisement

After stopping Messalonskee on downs at its own 34 to start the game, the Witches scored on their first three possessions.

Wood capped an eight-play drive with a 9-yard TD run, followed by QB Logan Rogerson’s 2-point run.

The Eagles fumbled two plays into their next series. Brewer recovered at Messalonskee’s 40 and made it 16-0 on Rogerson’s 5-yard TD run and Severance’s two-point conversion.

The Witches defense stiffened after their special teams fumbled a punt at its own 46, stopping the Eagles on 4th-and-5 at the 31. Pelletier was close to the first down, but the Eagles didn’t get a measurement they were looking for because the chains had already been moved for the apparent change of possession.

Brewer gave the ball to Severance for runs of 12, 53 and nine yards, the last to paydirt, to increase the lead to 22-0 with 9:15 left in the half.

“We came into the game knowing we had to win to hopefully be one of the top (seeds) at the end of the year,” Severance said. “Our line took it right to them at the beginning. I couldn’t ask for them to do a better job.”

Advertisement

Messalonskee answered with its best drive of the night, 84 yards in 11 plays capped by Pelletier’s sneak on fourth-and-goal, to make it 22-7. But Brewer came right back with runs by Severance, Rogerson and Wood before Rogerson hooked up with Tyler Friel for a 15-yard TD pass to go up 30-7 with 15 seconds left in the half.

“We played much better in the second half. Unfortunately, there are two halfs,” Bishop said. “That’s a good physical football team, Brewer. They’re a year older and much better than they were last year. Holy mackerel. We had a gut check at halftime and played with pride. We played a lot better the second half but that’s not the way we’re supposed to come out the first half.”

Severance added a seven-yard TD run and Wood a 30-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Cameron Goff added a three-yard TD run for Messalonskee with the second string on the field.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.