TURNER — The saying goes in football that “defense wins championships,” and despite Saturday’s Western Class C regional final featuring two teams that averaged over five touchdowns per game, that saying held true. The teams combined for only three touchdowns and a field goal as top-seeded Leavitt held off No. 3 Wells in a 14-9 victory at cold and muddy Libby Field.

The defenses showed up early in a rematch of the 2011 Class B state championship game ”“ when there were only three football classifications and the Hornets were slotted in Eastern Maine.

Neither team could gain a first down until the Hornets did on their fourth drive. Leavitt gained two first downs to get just past midfield ”“ the first time either team accomplished that ”“ before quarterback Levi Craig threw a jump-ball pass into double coverage to Max Green, who secured the catch before running the rest of the way for a 46-yard touchdown with one minute left in the first quarter.

The Wells offense ”“ which averaged 37 points per game during the regular season ”“ was held without a first down for even longer, as the Warriors went three-and-out on their first five drives. That streak finally came to an end after the Wells defense stopped Leavitt on fourth down in Warrior territory.

Senior running back Chris Carney, who entered the game with more than 1,900 yards rushing on the season, finally broke through with a 57-yard run on third down all the way down to the Leavitt 17-yard line.

A 6-yard pass and a 3-yard run gave the Warriors a 3rd-and-1 at the 8-yard line, but the Leavitt defense stopped Wells quarterback Nate Booth on a keeper for no gain, and the Warriors settled for a 25-yard field goal by Ryan Marsh.

“That was huge. We had our backs against the wall there, and the guys did a good job of just defending the goal line,” said Leavitt head coach Mike Hathaway. “Just giving up field goals over touchdowns is huge.”

The start of the second half started out just like the first as the first five drives of the half were three-and-outs.

It was on Leavitt’s third drive of the half that an offense finally found some traction, namely Craig finally able to set his feet on the soggy field. The junior quarterback had two of his nine completions for the game ”“ out of 23 pass attempts ”“ on the drive, which brought the Hornets down to the Wells 22. Runs of 11 and 8 yards, respectively, by Julian Kirouac, followed by a Leavitt false start, put the Hornets at the 8-yard line, where Craig kept it himself on a scramble down the left sideline for a touchdown.

“We told Levi at halftime, and I just kept telling him on the sideline, ”˜we’re not going away from this; this is who we are. We need to keep going at it,’” said Hathaway. “He just stuck with it. It wasn’t his best day percentage-wise, but he certainly made some big throws when we needed them.”

The Wells offense got its initial first down of the half on the penultimate play of the third quarter, as Booth scrambled for nine yards on 3rd-and-8. Carney and the Warriors then found running room for the first time all game, as they drove 57 yards on five plays ”“ all Carney runs ”“ for a touchdown to start the fourth quarter.

“We just kind of went to different formation and tried to see if we could get some stuff going, and we did,” Wells head coach Tim Roche said of going to a shotgun formation with receivers blocking outside for Carney, which Hathaway said surprised his defense.

The adjustment nearly worked again on Wells’ next drive as the Warriors got down to the Leavitt 25 from their own on three Carney runs. But Carney slipped on third down, and only got two yards on 3rd-and-3, then was stuffed for a 1-yard loss by Leavitt defensive lineman Adam Smith.

“Give them credit for their defense,” said Roche. “We couldn’t move the ball very well.”

“Our defensive front was really good today,” said Hathaway. “Wells has a great ground game and those guys really handled it up front.”

Wells was able to force a punt on Leavitt’s next two drives, but the Warriors’ offense, forced to throw the ball in the final three minutes, wasn’t able to complete a pass.

Carney had a good return on the first of the two Leavitt punts, giving Wells the ball at the Hornets’ 42, but Carney lost a yard on first down before three straight Booth incompletions. After a Leavitt three-and-out, Booth threw four more incompletions, the last one just over the outstretched arms of Carney on a swing pass, to all but seal the victory for the Hornets.

“That’s not what we are,” Roche said of trying to be successful passing the ball. “They’re a passing team, we’re a running team. You take away either one and you go to something else, and we tried. It’s just not what we do.”

Craig, who accounted for 152 of Leavitt’s 201 yards, only had to kneel down twice to secure Leavitt’s fifth state championship berth in the past six years.

Carney was able to go over 2,000 yards on the season with a 197-yard day in the final game of his career.

“He’s a stud. He’s the man. He worked hard for this,” Roche said of Carney. “It’s a pleasure to coach him. I’m going to say it again: He better be in that Fitzpatrick (Trophy) finalist category. He deserves it.”

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.