WINSLOW — Matt Quirion made sure the sequel was as lopsided as the original.

Winslow’s super sophomore ran for 179 yards on 17 carries and scored five touchdowns as the second-seeded Black Raiders handled No. 6 Maine Central Institute, 64-6, in a Class C North football semifinal Saturday at Poulin Field.

Winslow (6-2) greets No. 5 Hermon — which upset top-seeded Medomak Valley, 16-12, in Saturday’s other semi — for the North title on Nov. 13.

Quirion, who ran for 145 yards and three scores in a 44-8 rout of MCI on Sept. 18,  picked up where he left off Saturday from his left wingback position, running for three of the Raiders’ first four touchdowns as they amassed a 40-6 halftime lead. For good measure, he added a 35-yard TD reception from quarterback Jared Newgard with 11 seconds left in the first half. Oh, and he ran for three 2-point conversions.

It appeared as if Quirion was getting stronger as the game went on, dragging hordes of MCI defenders as he carried the ball.

“I think it was adrenaline,” Quirion said with a laugh.

Advertisement

Quirion had a pretty good supporting cast, thanks to the blocking of linemen Travis Reed, Owen Schuchardt, Allan Rogers, Joe Pfingst, Will Harvey, Jaxen Wiegand, Tyler Brockway and Tim Lessa.

“They’ve practiced hard all week, all year,” Winslow co-coach Pete Boldic said. “All year they’ve practiced hard and continued to make holes and bring that workman’s attitude every day and it pays off on game day.”

Bolduc’s defense held Huskies quarterback Max Bottenfield — who threw for 436 yards and 5 touchdowns in last weekend’s 49-46 quarterfinal win over Belfast — to 47 yards on 4-of-13 passing despite decent protection. Winslow’s Brockway recovered a Bottenfield fumble and teammate Gavin Chambers added an interception.

Overall, Winslow churned out 489 yards of total offense to MCI’s 122.

“They got their offense going, and they owned the line of scrimmage and were able to control the game,” MCI coach Tom Bertand said.

Winslow’s Pedro Garcia came of the bench to run for 134 yards and a 39-yard TD on seven carries. Teammate Jack Dorval added 83 yards and a 28-yard TD run on 10 carries, plus three 2-point conversions.

Advertisement

While Quirion found the end zone the most, it was quarterback Newgard who started the proceedings with a 3-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion to give the Raiders an 8-0 lead. From there, Quirion took over, with TD runs of 10, 2 and 5 yards to make it 32-0 late in the second quarter. After Winslow’s Davian Costigan recovered an MCI fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Newgard (3-for-4, 71 yards) tossed a perfect rainbow to a wide-open Quirion — their second connection of the day, on identical plays — to boost the advantage to 40-0 following the 2XP.

MCI’s Braeden Kennedy returned Winslow’s next kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 40-6 at halftime.

Quirion saved his best run for last on Winslow’s first possession of the third quarter. Quirion took a reverse pitchout, ran to Newgard’s right, then shifted left to evade MCI’s defenders and raced 59 yards down the left sideline and into the end zone to boost the lead to 48-6. After one more carry on Winslow’s next possession, he took a well-deserved rest for the remainder of the afternoon.

The loss was a tough one to swallow for MCI (2-5), which defeated Winslow 49-21 in the 2019 North final. But Bertand had nothing but praise for his hard-working team, which returns Bottenfield and his big arm for his senior season in 2022.

“The kids grew up a lot over the season, and the kids played well and responded last week,” he said. “I’m sorry for our seniors that this is how it ends, but we’ll do what we need to do to get better for next year.”

Related Headlines

Comments are not available on this story.