PITTSFIELD — They were the best team of the Little Ten Conference football season. Turns out, the Maine Central Institute Huskies were the best of the postseason as well. And it wasn’t even close.

The Class D North final Friday night at MCI’s Alumni Field needed only minutes to become a Huskies coronation. Top-seeded MCI smothered, stifled and overwhelmed No. 3 seed Dexter, romping its way to a 41-0 victory and earning a berth in the state final at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium next weekend in style.

“With this big win, it is confidence,” quarterback Josh Buker said. “You need confidence in big games like that. … I felt like we had it for this game, and we showed what we can do.”

The win came after MCI (11-0) drubbed Dexter (8-3), 36-2, in the regular season. Once again, the Tigers had no answer for MCI’s running game, its passing attack or its relentless defense.

“We knew that Dexter was going to come ready to go,” coach Tom Bertrand said. “We knew we were going to have to respond to what they did, we knew that they were going to try to get their passing game going a little bit. We planned all week and our kids responded and did a great job.”

The game wasn’t perfect for the Huskies — MCI did punt on its opening possession, after all — but it was close. The Huskies scored on their next four drives, taking their first lead after the defense forced a three-and-out deep in Dexter territory and set the offense up at the 40-yard line. MCI needed eight plays to find the end zone, getting there when Willie Moss charged in from four yards out to make it 7-0 with 2:20 to go in the first quarter.

MCI didn’t need nearly as many plays to score after another three-and-out. Buker (8-of-11, 132 yards; 10 carries, 78 yards) dropped back on second-and-6 from the Dexter 42 and found Adam Bertrand wide open down the field. The junior hauled in the pass and bounced off defenders the rest of the way, making it 14-0 with 11:47 to play in the half.

“I don’t know if it was blown coverage or what it was, but when you see someone wide open, all you immediately think is ‘Get him the ball!’ ” Buker said. “(I was thinking) if I hit him, he’s got enough momentum to carry it in the end zone.

“Last game, we went down to their house, it was a sluggish first half. We knew if we did that again, they might punish us for it.”

The floodgates had opened, and the Tigers’ defense had no answer for the MCI attack. Buker found Clark Morrison on a 19-yard rollout pass on third-and-14 to extend the Huskies’ next drive, and Eli Bussell ran in from a yard out to finish it and up the advantage to 21-0 with 6:29 to go. MCI got a gift with a shanked punt to set up the next series and took advantage, covering the 35 yards — with help from a costly Dexter personal foul call that negated a second-and-19 — in seven plays and capping it with Buker’s 5-yard run with 1:48 to go in the half.

The narrative didn’t change in the second half, as Bussell had a 13-yard run in the third quarter and Pedro Matos scored on a 9-yard run in the fourth. Dexter’s offense didn’t fare much better — Tiger ballcarriers managed 30 yards on 21 carries, never able to find room up the middle or beat the MCI defense, Class D North’s stingiest unit, around the side.

“They got great, great run defense. We were not able to run, we were not able to throw,” Dexter co-coach Brian Salsbury said. “And that translates to field position. If we’re not moving the ball, they’re getting great field position every time we punt.”

“We didn’t do a lot different, as far as run defense,” coach Bertrand said. “We tried to get the push up front, get the reads, get the keys, and make the plays. Don’t miss tackles, don’t miss assignments. We do a pretty good job of that.”

They couldn’t have done it much better Friday night, and now there’s a final game to go as a result.

“We feel like we’re peaking right now,” coach Bertrand said. “We know that the (South) is tough. We’re going to go watch Winthrop and Lisbon play (Saturday), and we know that it’s going to be a heck of a game down in Portland.”

Drew Bonifant — 621-5638

dbonifant@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @dbonifantMTM

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