AUGUSTA — The road to the Gold Ball is about to get rather treacherous for defending state champs Cony and Oak Hill.
Maine high school football regional semifinals are set for this weekend, and if the Rams and Raiders hope to keep their hopes of back-to-back state titles alive then they are going to have to survive some stiff competition.
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No. 2 Cony (6-2) will host No. 3 Lawrence (7-2) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Alumni Field with the right to play the winner of No. 4 Messalonskee at No. 1 Brunswick for the Pine Tree Conference B title the following weekend.
Earlier this season the Rams scored a 31-13 victory at Keyes Field, which marked the start of Cony’s current five-game win streak.
“We’ve got to limit their big plays. That (was) one of the things we recognize from the last game,” Lawrence coach John Hersom said. “We’re taking a little different defensive approach. We’ll see if it helps us a little bit.”
As the rest of PTC B has found out this season, slowing down Cony’s passing attack is easier said than done. Quarterback Mitchell Caron has effectively carved up just about every opponent he has faced, with Tayler Carrier and Anthony Brunelle being his favorite targets.
In their last game at Gardiner, however, the Rams showed they were more than just a passing team as running back Reid Shostak rushed for 159 yards and two scores on 25 carries in a 41-0 win over the Tigers. Shostak has also been a threat in the receiving game, as Cony has shown a propensity for offsetting an opponent’s pass rush with a well-timed screen to Shostak.
The bigger question for Lawrence, though, will be whether or not it can score enough to win.
The Rams have posted at least 22 points in every game this season, meaning the Bulldogs will likely have to punch it into the end zone at least four times to have a chance.
Lawrence should be better prepared to deal with Cony’s much improved defense this time around, as their first meeting earlier this year was when the Rams unveiled a slew of personnel changes.
“Defensive end has been huge for us,” Cony coach Robby Vachon said. “That was the first game that Benaiah (Willhoite) played for us and he’s a tremendous athlete and he showed it that night as well. He was really physical with (Seth) Powers and I thought he did a nice job on contain.
“We also changed the linebacker spot a little bit. Max Storey started to get some reps at linebacker for us and he’s been pretty critical for us also.”
As for the Western D Campbell Conference semifinals, No. 3 Oak Hill (8-1) will get chance at redemption against the only team to defeat the Raiders this season, No. 2 Dirigo (7-1).
A big factor in the Cougars’ win earlier this season was the absence of starting running back/linebacker Kyle Flaherty, who left that game late in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. Oak Hill struggled offensively without its star runner, as it allowed Dirigo to focus all of its attention stopping Alex Mace.
Flaherty has looked like his old, explosive self in recent weeks, however, and his absence also allowed the Raiders to build some depth without him in the lineup.
“Since Kyle has been back in the lineup we’ve been a very different offensive team,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “We have stretched the entire field and offensively he’s one of our big guns. He’s one of our leaders too.”
Weather could also be a factor with rain potentially in the forecast for Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff. The Raiders struggled with the sloppy conditions in a 7-6 win over a bigger, more physical Maranacook team in the quarterfinals, and Dirigo presents many of the same problems as the Black Bears only on a greater scale.
The winner of Friday night’s contest will meet either No. 1 Lisbon (7-1) or No. 4 Old Orchard Beach (5-3) in the Western D finals.
Staff Writer Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this report.
Evan Crawley—621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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