Bonny Eagle 28

Deering 13

Nate Doehler and Ricky Hoyt connected on three touchdown passes as the Bonny Eagle football team advanced to the Western Maine final for the third time in four years with a 28-13 win over visiting Deering. Hoyt’s three touchdowns came on plays of 84, 50 and 25 yards.

“(Hoyt) played amazing tonight,” Doehler said. “It was easy throwing the ball to him because I knew he would get some good yardage after the catch.”

With all the long scoring plays, it would seem the Scots had their way with the Rams. But that wasn’t the case. At the end of the first quarter, the game was still scoreless thanks to some suffocating defense from both teams. On the last play of the quarter, Deering had a fourth-and-five from the 18. Quarterback Regan Flaherty connected with Brad Shafran, but they were short of the first down.

Two plays later, the Scots broke the stalemate when Doehler faked a handoff to John Onesti. He then launched a pass over two defenders and into the open hands of Hoyt, who rumbled all the way to the end zone. Doehler’s first of four extra points made it a 7-0 lead.

After a quick three-and-out, Bonny Eagle was looking to strike again. This time on the fourth play from scrimmage, Doehler once again faked to Onesti and found Hoyt down the sideline for a 50-yard strike and a quick 14-0 lead.

But Deering wasn’t ready to pack it in just yet. On their next possession, the Rams marched 70 yards in seven plays to cut the Bonny Eagle lead in half. Utilizing the passing game, Flaherty led his team down the field and finally found Shafran for a 20-yard touchdown play. Ernesto Salamone’s kick was good and with 3:19 to play in the half, Bonny Eagle held a 14-7 lead.

Often in this situation, the Scots march down field and score again to get some breathing room before halftime. They did it against Gorham and coach Kevin Cooper sought to do it again. Bonny Eagle marched methodically down the field to the Deering 24 yard line. But on second down, Doehler’s pass was intercepted by Salamone who returned the ball all the way to Bonny Eagle’s 38.

That gave the Rams an excellent opportunity to tie the game before heading to the locker room. The Bonny Eagle defense had other plans however. Two straight incomplete passes, an eight-yard run and another incomplete pass ended the Deering threat in just four plays and the Scots took their lead to halftime with their defense to thank.

“(Our defense) made some key stops,” Doehler said. “On that interception I threw, the guy ran it back. But after that we stopped them three-and-out, so that was good.”

Deering seized the momentum for a time early in the second half. The Scots had won the game’s opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, so they got the ball first. With a seven point lead, the Scots were looking to add to it. But Matt Alves intercepted Doehler and set up the Rams with good field position.

Deering marched 40 yards in 10 plays with Jack Heary finishing the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. On the extra point, the snap was wild and the Scots swarmed to the ball. After the failed attempt, Bonny Eagle still clung to a one point lead.

The Scots, however, were not going to stand pat on their narrow edge. Beginning at their own 40, the Scots set out to increase their lead. But it didn’t come easy with several penalties during the drive. But finally on fourth-and-goal from the 25, Doehler found Hoyt for the third time to increase the lead to 21-13.

“We had some tough times on some downs, but we seemed to persevere through that,” Doehler said. “That’s what kept us going. It was a good team effort tonight.”

The long scoring drive gave the Scots the momentum back. They stuffed Deering on three straight plays to force a punt. On the ensuing drive, Bonny Eagle put the game away for good. On just five plays, the Scots moved 55 yards to the end zone. Onesti finished the drive off with a seven-yard scoring run.

With the win, Bonny Eagle moves to the regional final. They have a short week to prepare to host Marshwood on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Fitzpatrick Stadium and the state championship game on the line.

“We haven’t looked at (Marshwood) yet but we’ll study them pretty hard (Tuesday) and the rest of the week,” Doehler said. “I think we’ve been able to handle a bunch of things like playing different days and rescheduling, I think we can handle a short week too.”