Mt. Ararat’s Kobe Clark, front, catches a pass against Brunswick on Friday at the Topsham Fairgrounds. Eli Canfield/Times Record
TOPSHAM — The Brunswick football team needed a little luck — and a Hail Mary — to pick up a win at the Topsham Fairgrounds
The Dragons defeated Mt. Ararat 46-42 on Friday night on a last second heave by quarterback Wes Cooper, who found classmate Evan Kilfoil for a touchdown as time expired.
“Wes threw me a great ball, and I had to make the catch”, Milfoil said.
This was the first game of the season for the Dragons, who were coming off a trip to the Class B state title game last season before losing to Marshwood. As for the Eagles, they were coming off a 40-12 win last week over Morse.
Mt. Ararat’s Shea Farrell, front, hauls in a touchdown catch against Brunswick on Friday at the Topsham Fairgrounds. Eli Canfield/Times Record
“I love to coach football, and I got to do a little coaching today,” Brunswick head coach Dan Cooper said.
Brunswick rolled out a lineup of offensive and defensive lineman in the first and third quarters, and had their skill positions players out there in the second and fourth.
“The guys got greedy and started throwing the ball down the field, especially the linemen,” added Cooper.
The Eagles offense came out hot offensively. Shea Farrell, Kobe Clark and Kaiden Tome each scored touchdowns for Mt. Ararat in the first half. Eagles quarterback Nolan Blessington finished the day with six passing touchdowns.
Once the rain came — halfway through the second quarter — the Dragons offense seemed to kick into another gear. Cody Larson caught two touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the first half, both coming from Cooper.
The score was 20-12 at halftime, in favor of the Eagles. Mt. Ararat forged ahead to a 34-12 lead by the end of the third quarter, but then the Dragons roared back.
Mt. Ararat’s Kaiden Tome dives for a pass against Brunswick on Friday at the Topsham Fairgrounds. Eli Canfield/Times Record
The game-changing play came in the fourth quarter, when Larson intercepted a pass from Blessington and returned it for a touchdown to cut the lead to two.
“I read it right, and took it back. All the boys were getting hyped up, and I love seeing that,” Larson said.
The Eagles didn’t go quietly, and took the lead right back on a touchdown pass from Farrell, who finished with four touchdowns on the day. Brunswick then drove down the field and had one final play with 2.7 seconds to go, resulting in the Hail Mary.
“Not the result we wanted, but that was a good team that we played today,” Clark said.
The rivalry was on display during the game, even though it felt a little bit different.
“We’re all buds, and it was some clean, good football out there,” said Mt. Ararat junior Jack Sillaman.
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