WELLS – Just as Eli Potter scored his final touchdown for the Wells football team on Friday night, a loud train whistle blew in the far off distance of Warrior Memorial Field.

Potter, a senior fullback, provided his own train service. With the game tied at the half, Potter put the offense on his back, rushing for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, as Wells beat Winthrop 35-7 for the Class D South championship.

“I couldn’t have done it without my lead blocker on most of those plays, (senior running back Dom Buxton),” Potter said. “We found something (on offense) and stuck to it.”

Potter finished with 214 yards on 30 carries. The Warriors (10-0), the defending Class D state champions, will meet the winner of Saturday’s Class D North championship between Foxcroft Academy and Winslow in the state final Nov. 23 at Lewiston High School.

“We’re so pumped, we’ve been looking forward to (these games) since we were little kids,” Potter said. “It’s a huge honor to be out here and make it to a state championship, and hopefully win next week.”

Winthrop finished 8-2.

Down 7-0 after the first quarter, Wells answered with its passing game. Scrambling to his right, quarterback Cal Moody threw across his body to a wide open Buxton for a 39-yard touchdown with 6:34 left in the second quarter. Sabin Piatek’s extra point tied the game 7-7.

Wells went to the air again to take the lead. With 7:42 left in the third quarter, Moody faked the defense out with a play-action pass, and found Riley Murphy on a fly pattern for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Piatek’s extra point gave Wells a 14-7 lead. Moody finished 4 of 9 passing for 123 yards.

From there, it was all Potter, constantly plowing through Winthrop defenders, picking up positive yardage on each run. He scored all three of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter, highlighted by an 18-yard scoring run in the final two minutes of the game.

“(Potter) did exactly what Paul McDonough did to me in 2011 (when Wells won the Class B title), he said, ‘Give me the ball,’ ” Wells Coach Tim Roche said. “All the offensive linemen were like, ‘We got this, let’s go.’ They did a great job of blocking up front and Eli runs tougher than nails.”

On defense, Wells kept the Rambler rushing attack of Cody Cobb and Carter Rivers at bay, holding the duo to 51 combined yards. This forced Winthrop to throw the ball more than it had throughout the playoffs. The Ramblers found early success in the pass game, as quarterback Braden Branagan hit Ben Porter for a 32-yard touchdown in the first quarter. But Wells tightened up, forcing three interceptions, two by Buxton, and another by Murphy.

“We just played our game (defensively),” Buxton said. “Our coaches got us to work on our footwork (in practice) to stay with (the receivers). It was just regular defense for us.”

Despite Wells securing the win in the second half, Winthrop continued to fight, matching The Warriors’ physical style on both sides of the ball.

“(Wells) did a great job, they’re a great team,” Winthrop Coach Joel Stoneton said. “We left everything out on the field. They just straight up beat us tonight… (Potter) was the difference maker. You pick your poison, either stack the box and shut down the run, or try to stop the pass.”

Wells will be seeking its seventh state championship next weekend, and its fourth in Class D (2017, 2018, 2023). The Warriors also own two Class B titles (1997, 2011) and a Class C crown (2016).

“I’m so proud of these kids,” Roche said. “It’s so cool to go back (to the state final) and see what we can do.”