By PAT McDONALD

Sports Editor

KENNEBUNK — The old saying is “defense wins championships.”

Well if that’s the case, both the Kennebunk Rams and Marshwood Hawks proved they have the kind of defense that can bring home a Gold Ball later this fall.

In Saturday’s Class B South showdown, neither team was able to reach 300 total yards on offense, but the visiting Hawks were able to do just enough to secure a 15-12 win and position themselves to be the top seed in the upcoming playoffs.

“They made plays when they had to, I give them credit. We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough one and I thought (Marshwood) played outstanding on defense and made some plays when they had to,” said Kennebunk coach Joe Rafferty. “It’s very much what we expected … of course I’d like (the score) a little flipped, but beyond that I knew we were going to be in a battle and it was going to be a grind all afternoon.”

Neither team was able to do anything on their opening drives, but the Hawks would put together a rare long drive when they got the ball back from the Rams midway through the first quarter.

Sophomore running back Justin Bryant broke off a 43-yard run to put the Hawks inside the redzone for the first time. Five plays later, junior quarterback Tommy Springer scored on a 3-yard run. The extra point try sailed through the uprights and the Hawks led 7-0 with 5:55 left in the opening period.

Kennebunk answered right back with a long drive of its own. Junior running back Derek Smith started the drive with an 8-yard run and junior QB Tripp Bush added a 3-yard run to give the Rams their initial first down. The big play on the drive came on a pass from Bush to junior wide receiver Zack Sullivan for a 26-yard gain

That play put the Rams inside Marshwood territory for the first time. The Rams would go back to the air later in the drive as Bush hit Smith for a 10-yard gain, and then on the next play Bush handed off to Smith who then stopped and threw an 11-yard pass to Bush for a first-down to the 14.

The first quarter would end in the middle of the drive with the Hawks still leading 7-0, but the Rams only needed three plays in the second period to get on the board. Dante DeLorenzo pounded his way into the end zone from three yards out to make it 7-6. The Hawks would keep the 1-point lead as they blocked the Rams’ extra point.

After forcing a Marshwood punt, the Rams’ offense was not able to get going. Smith would come on to punt and he would nail a kick that would make NFL legend Ray Guy jealous. The junior sent the ball 66 yards and it bounced out of bounds all the way down at the Hawks’ 2-yard line.

The Rams’ D nearly got a safety on the second play of the Hawks’ drive, but they would have to settle for a 3-and-out. The Marshwood punt would go just 21 yards and gave Kennebunk the ball at the Hawks’ 22 with 5:11 left in the half.

It took the Rams just four plays to score as Bush hit Sullivan with a 17-yard gain down to the Marshwood 4 — and the two would hook up two plays later on a 5-yard scoring strike. The 2-point conversion fell short and the Rams held a 12-7 lead with 3:28 left in the first half.

“That was a huge swing certainly. (The) kicking game is huge in close games and Derek does a good job,” said Rafferty of Smith’s huge punt that switched the field position for the Rams.

The two teams would turn the ball over on downs on their next possessions, but Marshwood had one more chance before the half — and the Hawks nearly entered the locker room with a lead.

On the last play of the half, Springer scrambled out of the pocket and made several players miss on a 36-yard run before finally getting tackled at the 2-yard line with zeros on the clock.

The Rams had the first real chance of the second half as they put together a 8-play drive that covered 42 yards, but on a third-and-4 from the Hawks’ 24, Bush would loft a pass to the end zone and Marshwood’s Joe Taran would come down with it with just 15 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the very first play of the ensuing drive, Springer faked a handoff to his running back and got to the outside — and he wouldn’t stop until he reached the end zone 80 yards later.

The Hawks were able to convert the 2-point try to go up 15-12 heading into the final quarter.

“It was great execution,” said Rafferty of Springer’s long run. “It’s a not a play that they don’t run, they run that all the time, it’s just a quarterback run to the edge and we just didn’t recognize it fast enough. We had a chance to re-watch (the play) and our kid was just way inside, he went for the inside fake and thought that’s where the ball was.”

Kennebunk would get into Marshwood territory on its next drive, but the Rams were forced to punt. Smith’s kick was almost downed at the 1-yard line, but the referee said the Kennebunk player touched the ball in the end zone to give the Hawks the ball at the 20.

The Rams’ defense quickly gave the offense another chance when Sullivan picked off a Springer pass with 6:57 left in regulation.

Marshwood’s Sam Cartmill helped out his quarterback as he picked off a Kennebunk pass on the ensuing drive to give the Hawks the ball with 4:26 remaining.

The Kennebunk defense stepped up and would give the Rams’ offense another chance as they forced another Marshwood punt with 1:33 left.

Bush led the Rams on an impressive drive down the field with runs of 8, 6 and 4 yards and completions of 12 and 8 yards to Sullivan and 7 yards to Ian Connors. 

Kennebunk would get down to the Marshwood 25-yard line with just 11 seconds left, but Marshwood’s Ian Parmley would secure the victory with an interception in the end zone with just 3 seconds left.

“Turnovers are big, but the last one we just kind of had to take a shot late in the game,” said Rafferty.

The Marshwood defense held the usually dangerous Kennebunk running game to just 112 yards, which forced the Rams to go to the air.

“They did a great job against the option game and they did a great job up front. I don’t think we really established our running game and we were throwing the ball more than normal,” said Rafferty. “We do it but that’s not something we want to do all the time. I thought their secondary played extremely well overall, and if we’re not able to run the football that’s going to (make an) impact because a lot of what we do is play action, and if you’re not running well there is no play action.”

Bush went 9-of-25 through the air with 125 yards, one touchdown and four picks. Sullivan was his favorite target as he hauled in six passes for 102 yards.

DeLorenzo ran the ball 17 times for 58 yards and the one score. Bush added 27 yards on the ground and Smith had 18 rushing yards.

Springer led the Hawks with 145 rushing yards and two scores on 16 carries. Bryant finished with five carries with 61 yards.

While the Rams walked away disappointed, Rafferty was pleased with his team’s effort.

“That was a great game, exciting game and both teams I think, overall, played well,” Rafferty said.

The Rams will have to forget about Saturday’s game quickly as they travel to Biddeford on Friday for a rivalry clash with the Tigers (5-2).

“It’s just the way it is. That’s what makes football so great a game and high school football especially,” said Rafferty of having back-to-back rivalry contests. “That’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to go up and play at Biddeford next week, and I know after the last several years we’ve had a great rivalry going with them. It’s like (Marshwood), it seems like those have been our two biggest games each year for the last few years. We’ve just got to be ready to play.”

Rafferty knows that his team could get another shot at the Hawks in a few weeks, but he also realizes that in a tough Class B South you never know what will happen in the postseason.

“Now we know unless something crazy happens in playoffs, which we don’t know, we figure we’re going to go in (as the) two or three (seed) depending on what goes on and just wait and see what happens,” said Rafferty.

NOTES: The Hawks outgained the Rams 290-248 in the game … Marshwood will finish up the regular season with a home game against a 1-6 Noble team.