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Dylan Jewett ran for three touchdowns and the Spruce Mountain defense made big stops as the Phoenix knocked off Mt. Ararat 20-14 in the eight-man football Large School South final Saturday in Livermore Falls.
The Phoenix (8-1) advance to face Camden Hills in the state title game next Saturday at Edward Little High School in Auburn. The Windjammers defeated Mount Desert Island 35-0 in the North final.
Jewett, a junior quarterback, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 25-yard run with 5:07 left.
Before that, he knocked down a Mt. Ararat fourth-down pass in the end zone to force a turnover on downs after the Eagles (8-2) had driven inside the Spruce Mountain 10 with 7:37 remaining and the score tied 14-14.
Top-seeded Spruce Mountain stopped No. 2 Mt. Ararat in the red zone a few times, including once in the second quarter when the Phoenix recovered a fumble at their own 1.
The Eagles scored the game’s first points on a 17-yard touchdown pass form Will Davis to Avery O’Connor in the opening quarter.
After forcing a turnover on downs near midfield, the Phoenix quickly drove down the field to set up Jewett’s 26-yard TD run with 19 seconds left in the first half. Jewett then found Owen Kelvey on the 2-point conversion to give Spruce Mountain a 8-6 lead.
The Phoenix opened the second half with a long drive that Jewett capped with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Spruce’s lead was up to 14-6 with 5:16 left in the third.
Mt. Ararat relied heavily on big running back Nick Doughty, especially in the second half. He scored on an 18-yard run and then added the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14 later in the third.
The Phoenix forced the turnover on downs that set up the go-ahead score and then another at their own 34-yard line with 2:08 left.
Spruce Mountain will be playing in its first state title game in the program’s 15-year history. Before being consolidated into one school, Jay High School reached seven Class C finals, the most recent in 2004, while Livermore Falls High School reached state finals three times between 1980 and ’92.
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