BRUNSWICK — Lucas McCue, a senior running back at Brunswick, envisioned a sequence of events culminating in McCue and his teammates wearing down Skowhegan in Friday night’s Eastern Class B football semifinal.

The teams had met in the regular season, and Brunswick pulled away in the second half for a 21-point victory. This time, McCue ran for 237 yards on 22 carries, and Brunswick gained 520 yards in a 42-28 victory.

“We’re pretty good at keeping it together,” McCue said. “That’s what happened when we played them last time, too: They were with us until the second half. We just keep our poise. We keep plugging away.”

Brunswick will host Cony, a 41-15 winner over Messalonskee, in the regional final next weekend.

Skowhegan was forced to pass most of the game, and Adam Clukey finished with 26 completions on 37 attempts for 354 yards and four touchdowns. Kaleb Brown provided the running attack for Skowhegan, with 90 yards on 12 carries.

“I’d say hats off to Brunswick,” Skowhegan Coach Matt Friedman said. “Both sides of the line, they kind of dominated. We thought we could come in here and run the ball a little bit more – as we have been doing – but other than a few breakaways by Kaleb, they pretty much shut us down and made us one-dimensional.”

Brunswick’s control of the line showed on the first play, as Ryan Maciejewski (116 yards on nine carries) raced 64 yards for a score and a 6-0 lead. Skowhegan came back with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Clukey to DJ Allen and an 11-yard touchdown strike from Clukey to Owen Mercier for a 14-6 lead late in the second quarter.

“We were pretty confident coming into it,” McCue said. “I think the initial touchdown, right off the bat, kind of got into our heads. The scoreboard showed that when we were down 14-6.”

The Dragons’ eight-point deficit lasted only 20 seconds, as McCue went 75 yards for a score and Brady Larson hit Alex Bandouveres for the tying 2-point conversion. Then, with Skowhegan at the Brunswick 30, the Dragons recovered a fumble, and Larson scored from 2 yards out with 23 seconds remaining in the first half for a 22-14 Brunswick lead.

“If we put a score on there, instead of letting them score, it’s a different ballgame, at least longer into the game,” Friedman said. “But that’s the way it goes, especially when you get deep into the playoffs.”

Clukey drove Skowhegan downfield to start the second half and hit Allen (seven catches, 140 yards) for an 18-yard touchdown that pulled the Indians within 22-20. But McCue answered with a 7-yard TD run, then added a 15-yarder early in the fourth quarter, and Brunswick led 35-20.

Skowhegan had two turnovers in the fourth quarter, including a fumble recovered by Nick Dodson at the Skowhegan 32 that led to Brunswick’s final touchdown.

Contact Matt DiFilippo at 861-9243 or at:

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: Matt_DiFilippo