DOVER-FOXCROFT — Don Boyer ran 22 times for 266 yards and three touchdowns, and top-seeded Foxcroft Academy won the Eastern Class C football championship Saturday with a 33-7 victory against No. 2 John Bapst.
The victory sends Foxcroft (10-1) to the Class C state final for the seventh time since 2002. The Ponies will face Winslow on Saturday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“He ran angry. He ran hard, north and south,” Foxcroft Coach Danny White said of Boyer. “He told me when I walked in the locker room this morning ‘I’m going to run as hard as I can every time I touch the football’ That’s what you want to hear from your go-to guys.”
John Bapst (9-2) scored on a fourth-down play from the 1 to tie the game with 38 seconds left in the first half. On the first play after the kickoff, Boyer ran over the right side of the line, then broke it to the outside and scored from 66 yards to make it 13-7 at halftime.
“Coming out on Oakes Field for the last time, it just brought out a lot of emotion for everybody. My brother (sophomore fullback Peter Boyer) made a great block on that play,” said Boyer, a senior.
John Bapst Coach Dan O’Connell was impressed.
“At the 30, I just happened to notice that he switched gears and decided he was going to score. And I think in the second half he decided he wasn’t going to be denied,” said O’Connell.
Boyer showed his combination of speed and power in the third quarter, scoring two 13-yard touchdowns.
Quarterback Hunter Law had just one completion but was fine with that.
“I just kept giving (Boyer) the ball, over and over. It was just amazing watching him. He knows it was his last game on this field. I’ve never seen him run that hard.”
While Boyer was tearing it up, the Ponies’ defense turned in a stifling performance.
John Bapst was held to 105 yards. Andrew Catlin was the leading rusher with 26 yards.
“You hear it all the time but it’s true,” said White. “Words cannot describe an effort like that.”
Said O’Connell, “Hats off to (Foxcroft). They got it done today. I was proud of our effort but they were better than us today.”
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