BIDDEFORD — If he had been a senior one year earlier, Portland’s Ronald Hargrove would have pulled on the blue jersey of the West squad at Saturday’s 25th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic.

But with this year’s realignment in Maine high school football, Portland was moved out of its longtime home in Western Class A to Eastern Class A, meaning Hargrove found himself in the color of red to represent the East.

He wore it well.

As the main receiving threat in the East’s air-it-out offense, Hargrove was a big play waiting to happen all game, catching five passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns on perfectly placed passes as the East took a 32-13 victory in the annual battle for regional bragging rights at Waterhouse Field.

And brag Hargrove ”“ who celebrated his touchdowns by rubbing his fingers together in the “money” celebration made popular by Johnny Manziel ”“ did afterwards.

“A lot of people questioned who ”˜Ronny Football’ was, so I felt like I had to come out there and show them,” he said, grinning. “It was a battle. We knew we were going after it, and we wanted to win.”

It was the second win in a row for the East, which now trails 17-8 in the all-time series. And for the second-straight year, it was through the air where the East offense was able to gash the West.

Hampden Academy quarterback Matt Martin was named the game’s MVP after throwing for 169 yards and a touchdown on 8 of 12 passing and adding three short rushing scores on the ground.

Cony quarterback Ben Lucas, the Fitzpatrick Trophy winner and UMaine recruit, wasn’t too shabby either, adding 123 yards on 9 of 15 passing and a score as the East passed for 292 of its 526 total yards with scoring drives of 85, 72, 85, 85 and 62 yards.

“We decided we were going to spread the ball out,” Martin said. “We had a lot of playmakers so we thought if we spread it out the field a little bit and got the ball to them in open space, they’d be able to make a move and get up the field.”

On the other side, the West struggled to move the ball though the air and could only plod its way ahead on the ground, gaining less than four yards a carry just 241 yards of total offense overall while also turning the ball over four times.

Thornton Academy’s Andrew Libby, playing for the first time since tearing his ACL in the Golden Trojans’ season opener last fall, was named the West MVP as he ran for 63 on 20 carries, but also had a key fumble inside the 10-yard line at the end of the first half.

“The coaches at camp told us everything we needed to know, and we just focused on that,” said Xavier Lewis of Bangor, who led the East defense with two interceptions. “Coach emphasized that we were the underdogs, and we played with a chip on our shoulder.”

Receiving the opening kickoff, the East offense showed off its superiority early, marching down the field as Lucas hit his Cony teammate Jonathan Saban for 35 yards and then Joshua Gray for 19 more to set up a first and goal at the eight.

After a seven-yard run by Portland’s Justin Zukowski, Martin entered with the heavy set and bowled his way over from one yard out to make it 6-0, with Gray missing the extra point.

“We were talking all week about how first series we really wanted to hit them in the mouth, and that we’re not just going to roll over,” Martin said. “We got the ball and we made a nice drive and scored first, and that made it a little bit easier.”

After punting and throwing an interception on its first two drives, the West was able to respond at the end of the first behind the running of Libby, who rushed five times for 24 yards, including for four on a key fourth-and-three from the East 25-yard line.

After Libby had pounded the middle, Lisbon’s Quincy Thompson found space on the outside on a jet sweep and hit pay dirt, using two nice blocks and a quick cutback to run in from 21 yards out and make it 6-6.

But the East responded immediately, needing just five plays and 98 seconds to go 72 yards, with Hargrove beating his man on a slant-and-go route and receiving a perfect pass from Martin in the right side of the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown catch as the East went back up 13-6.

“He just turned it on, I gave it one pump and was fortunate enough to put the ball on him,” Martin said of Hargrove’s catch. “With his speed, he caught up with that one.”

Hargrove showed off his speed again later in the quarter, again beating his man on a fade route and making a tremendous leaping catch for a 62-yard gain that gave the East the ball at the West 1-yard line. A play later, Martin barreled over, and it was 20-6 with 7:53 left in the half.

“He can pretty much blow by anyone,” said Martin of Hargrove. “It was just my job to get it out in front of him.”

“They had a lot of talent obviously,” West head coach Joe Rafferty said. “They hit the long ball and threw it in a narrow window a lot of times.”

The West, which four times started drives inside the East half of the field in the first half, had two marvelous chances to cut the lead before halftime but couldn’t capitalize.

The first came after a long drive thanks to the hard running of Kennebunk’s Nick Emmons and Nicco DeLorenzo, who combined to run the ball six times for 30 yards, and an East personal foul that moved the ball into the red zone

But on first down with the ball at the 12, Libby took the ball, made a spin move and had the ball jarred out, with the East’s Briar Bussell jumping on it to end the West threat.

But after forcing the East to punt, and a Libby return helped out by a 15-yard facemask penalty, the West had the ball back at the East 27 with 97 seconds left in the half. Duncan Preston nearly hit a wide-open Jon Woods in the end zone on the first play, but the Bonny Eagle running back couldn’t make a diving catch.

South Portland’s Preston then hit Chris Cyr for five yards, but missed an open Corey Creeger on an out-route the next play, with a Cyr drop on fourth down ending the series and allowing the East to retain the 14-point lead at halftime.

“We had a chance on a long ball, gave up a fumble and had another chance after that,” Rafferty said. “We were 0 for 2 in the last five minutes of the half. If we’d gotten one there, it would have been a different game.”

The West did cut the lead early in the second half as Emmons orchestrated a 16-play, 86-yard drive that included 15 runs, with Woods scoring on a 6-yard run to get the West back within 20-13 as Emmons made the extra point.

But just like after the West’s first touchdown, the East responded straight away, going 85 yards in nine plays to retake a two-touchdown lead. Yet again it was Hargrove doing the major damage at the end, once more beating his defender on the slant-and-go down the right sideline and receiving a textbook over-the-shoulder pass from Lucas for a 31-yard TD as the East took a 26-13 advantage.

“Matt’s been my quarterback all week, Ben too sometimes, and they’re both gunslingers,” Hargrove said. “They put the ball on the money all the time, and they put it where the defensive back has no chance.”

“We knew we had a lot of wheels. He’s a legit player,” said Rafferty of Hargrove. “That didn’t surprise us, it was just a case of them executing extremely well. I don’t think we could have played that any better, it was just a big-time throw and catch, and they did it a few times.”

The West’s next two drives petered out in its own territory, with Lewis then intercepting Preston with 5:31 left in the fourth to all but seal the game. The East then added to its lead with a 62-yard drive capped off by a Martin’s four-yard rushing score, and Lewis ended the West’s final series with another interception to seal the East’s wire-to-wire victory.

“We got down early, and it’s hard to play catch up in this game,” Rafferty said.

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.