Gorham football coach Dave Kilborn won’t mind seeing Deering senior Jack Heary move on from the high school ranks. A favorite for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, Heary has 10 touchdowns this season in two games against Gorham.

On Friday night, Heary scored on two straight Deering offensive plays – the first a 44-yard reception, the second a 74-yard run – in the first quarter, added another receiving touchdown in the second quarter, and ran in two more in the third quarter as No. 1 Deering ended No. 8 Gorham’s season with a decisive 48-6 win in a Class A West quarterfinal game in Portland.

Deering will host No. 4 Bonny Eagle at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinals.

When the Gorham and Deering met in the third game of the regular season, Heary helped Deering overcome a 14-12 halftime deficit with four second-half rushing TDs to go along with a kickoff return for a score in the first half. Deering won that game 49-32.

“Jack Heary is phenomenal,” Kilborn said. “Whenever you have him on your team, you can go at it with whatever you get. That was the story of the game – his ability to run almost at will at times.”

Heary finished with 199 yards on 16 carries to go along with three catches for 56 yards. Yet it was sophomore quarterback Jamie Ross who gave Deering the early lead.

Shortly after Gorham (4-5) opened the game with an 11-play drive that covered 49 yards but bore no points, Deering (9-0) faced a third-and-7 from its own 44. Ross faked a handoff and kept it himself, trotting 56 yards down the right sideline for the score. He added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 4:23 left in the first.

Then Heary took over. Gorham turned the ball over on downs on its own 44 after a failed fake punt. On the next play, Heary took a short pass from Ross and ran up the middle into the end zone. The PAT made it 14-0 with 2:52 to go in the opening period.

Gorham punted on its next possession, giving Deering the ball on its own 26. Heary took a toss in the backfield and headed down the left sideline 74 yards for another score as time expired in the first quarter. The kick made it 21-0.

“We came out strong,” Heary said. “Our offensive line dominated, just completely dominated. They gave me holes to run through and I was just running. We wanted to give them a couple different looks, but the plan was to jump on them quick and we did.”

Gorham moved the ball well to start the second quarter, driving inside the Deering 20 before turning the ball over on a fumble on second-and-10 from the 19. From there, Deering embarked on a 13-play drive, capped off by an 11-yard pass from Ross to Heary for a touchdown. With the kick, it was 28-0 with 1:17 left in the half, which it remained until the break.

When the teams met during the regular season, Gorham stacked the box and blitzed aggressively to slow down Heary. It was a look Deering hadn’t seen before. The scheme worked until Deering made halftime adjustments. This time, though, there was no catching Deering off guard.

“Going into week nine, there isn’t a defensive front we haven’t seen or any adjustments we can’t make,” Deering coach Greg Stilphen said. “We were able to do that quicker this time than we were the first time.”

A failed fake punt came up just short of the first down on Gorham’s first series of the second half, giving Deering the ball at the Gorham 23. From there, Heary ran it in and Ross made the kick, making it 35-0 with 7:38 left in the third.

Gorham’s Frankie DiDonato recovered a fumble by Deering Ernie Salamone at the Deering 33 with 3:52 to go in the third. On Gorham’s first play following the fumble, Jon Day scored on a 33-yard touchdown carry for Gorham’s lone score. Day finished with 108 yards on 20 carries.

Heary scored on an option pitch from 14 yards out with 1:18 left in the third. Ross’ kick made it 42-6. A 1-yard TD plunge by Matt Alves completed the scoring with 10 minutes left in the game.

Kilborn said he’d try to turn the loss into a source of motivation for next season.

“It’s a great learning opportunity for our guys,” he said. “It’s a great way to start our off season because we’ve got to get hungry, we’ve got to get at it in the weight room, push the iron. That way we can come back and compete against a Deering next year.”