Kyle Houser and Griffeth Hebert added TDs to keep Windham on pace with Portland through the first half of Friday night, Nov. 11’s A North Championship. The Bulldogs, however, pulled away in the late going, securing a 27-14 W on big, fourth-quarter efforts by Jake Knop and Dylan Bolduc.

The result, which played out at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, ended Windham’s year. The Eagles went 5-3 through the regular season to earn the playoffs two-seed, which bought them a bye through the quarters. They then topped Cheverus 9-7 in the semis, thus arriving in Friday’s Regional Final.

No. 1 Portland also emerged victorious, 42-21, when they clashed with the Eagles in the regular season, way back in week three. It’s worth noting that Windham gave up fewer points in Friday night’s rematch than they had in late September – a defensive development that pleased head coach Matt Perkins.

“We played more aggressive on both sides of the ball,” Perkins said. “I think the fewer points are a result of our team improving. The kids have come a long way.”

After a tense, scoreless opening quarter, Portland finally broke the impasse, Bolduc adding a 14-yard rush TD in the second. Windham blocked Quinn Clarke’s PAT attempt, however, then responded with Houser’s touchdown, a two-yard run. Claudio Estrada nailed the Eagles’ extra point, seizing the lead at 7-6.

Windham jumped further ahead in the third when QB Desmond Leslie connected with Hebert for a 39-yard pass score. Estrada again split the uprights, for 14-6. The Bulldogs responded in turn, however, Griffin Foley reeling in a 13-yard pass TD from QB Issaiah Bachelder to slash the team’s deficit to 14-12. Bachelder then rushed successfully on a 2-point conversion and tied the board at 14-all.

So it all came down to the fourth – and the fourth belonged entirely to Portland. Knop hashed a 23-yard pass touchdown and Bolduc capped the team’s W with a 35-yard rush score for the 27-14 final.

Perkins expressed satisfaction with his boys’ season.

“I’m really pleased by the kids efforts and their improvements this year,” he said. “We came into this year having to replace 18 starters. The word on us was that we were young, but our seniors did a great job of setting the tone day-in and day-out. This senior group was a lot of fun to coach. This group really worked hard and got us back to our third Regional game in a row. The result wasn’t what we wanted, but the effort was tremendous and it was a lot of fun watching these young men develop.”

Portlanders Richard Farnsworth (57), Nick Giaquinto (70) and Dylan Bolduc (35) team up to take down Windham powerhouse running back Blake Houser.