AUBURN — There’s been plenty of promise for a retooled Gardiner football team early this season. The Tigers’ latest win, though, took true resiliency.

After trailing twice, including midway through the fourth quarter, Gardiner (3-1) retook the lead with 7:40 left to play in Friday’s road showdown with Edward Little. Then, key plays prevented the Red Eddies from taking the lead in what would be a 35-26 Tigers victory.

With Gardiner taking a 28-26 lead over Edward Little (0-4) with 7:40 left to play, the Red Eddies’ Jack Pepin took the ensuing kickoff all the way to the 2-yard line. Yet the Tigers found a hero in Eli Farias, who recorded a sack on first down and returned a pass 101 yards on second down in a remarkable turn of events.

“That’s a kid that had a fracture in his foot during our first game in that scrimmage against Oak Hill,” said Gardiner head coach Pat Munzing. “He’s been working really hard at rehabbing it to try and get back. That huge sack was big, and to follow it up with a 101-yard interception return is crazy.”

Farias almost never got the chance. Pepin’s kickoff return nearly went the distance, which would have put Gardiner’s offense in a do-or-die position late in the game. Instead, Eli Manning — not that one, mind you — tracked him down and made a key tackle to give his defense a chance.

“He’s on the cusp of being a varsity player, and he came and stepped in at corner for us because we had a couple injuries at corner over the course of the game,” Munzing said. “He kind of saved the game for us with that tackle, and then, our goal-line defense came in and did what they’ve been doing for us all season long.”

Gardiner’s defense struggled at times against Edward Little’s Kade Masselli, who replaced Christian Rodriguez at quarterback midway through the first half. Still, the Tigers kept pace with the Red Eddies through Chase Burgess, who threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one in the win.

The win now has Gardiner in second place in Class B North with half of the regular season complete. The Tigers have a reasonable shot at securing their first winning season since 2019 with games against Nokomis, Skowhegan and Cheverus before the regular season finale against rival Cony.

“We’ve been able to overcome some stuff with the way we’re developing each week and managing to improve,” Munzing said. “We’ve been able to have some different guys come in and make plays; we’re not a team who’s reliant on one person or one scheme to get it done.”

 

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On a long bus ride home Friday night, Maranacook already had its minds on its next challenge.

Sure, Maranacook was plenty excited after posting a dominant 68-12 victory over Sacopee Valley. But instead of hooting and hollering about the big win that was, the 4-0 Black Bears didn’t waste a minute as the players began scouring the internet for film on their next opponent, Dirigo.

“The kids knew, down the line, we were going to play them,” Maranacook head coach Skip Bessey said of Dirigo, which ended the Black Bears’ season in the eight-man Small School South semis last year. “I’ve had to keep a one-game-at-a-time mentality to keep them reigned in, but they’ve known it’s coming.”

The game against Dirigo is just one of a two-game stretch for Maranacook, which has breezed through its schedule thus far. Between the upcoming showdown with the Cougars and a Week 6 battle with Old Orchard Beach, the Black Bears are about to be truly tested.

In a Small School South class that lacks depth, it’s no surprise that Maranacook is still unbeaten. The Black Bears have outscored their first four opponents by an average of 55 points per game with their closest contest coming in a 56-20 victory over Boothbay in Week 1.

The next two games have been circled since the schedules were released. The Black Bears want revenge on Dirigo after the way last season ended, and reigning state champ Old Orchard Beach has been just as dominant as Maranacook — the 4-0 Seagulls have outscored foes 246-0, including a 54-0 win over the Cougars.

“I had a chance to break down that Old Orchard-Dirigo game film, and it was really cool watching both of those guys play against each other,” Bessey said. “We knew they would be our biggest games, and it’s exciting to know we’re getting to that part of the schedule. You look forward to these big games.”

Although OOB has yet to allow a point this season, Bessey is confident in his team’s ability to change that and likes his chances if his team plays with the same physicality it has thus far.

“We’ve talked about physicality and execution, and those are two things we’ve stressed every single game,” Bessey said. “I think we can compete with anybody physically, and then it’s just whether we can execute the game plan. If we can, we’re going to be very hard to beat.”

 

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Two central Maine teams picked up their first victories of the season last weekend.  

In Farmington, Skowhegan (1-3) ended a three-game scoreless drought by picking up an 18-13 victory over Mt. Blue. Oak Hill also left the ranks of the winless, defeating Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale 20-12.

After being shut out by Windham, Cony and Bangor to begin the season, Skowhegan answered a Mt. Blue touchdown with two of its own to take a 12-7 lead. The Cougars (0-4) would answer and lead 13-12 entering the fourth quarter, but the River Hawks ultimately scored the decisive touchdown to claim the win.

“We definitely needed that win after the first three weeks,” said Skowhegan interim head coach Brad Cyr. “We knew we had a pretty tough early schedule, and we did our best to weather that early storm and keep everyone as positive as they could moving forward.”

Asher Fitzgerald had a strong game for Skowhegan, rushing for 136 yards and two touchdowns and recording 57 receiving yards. Cyr called the performance as a whole the cleanest to date for the River Hawks, who gained confidence after their first score of the season.

“(That first touchdown) was definitely the best we’ve felt all season,” Cyr said. “We put ourselves in a situation where we didn’t make as many mistakes, we gained a lot of confidence throughout the game, and we were able to finish on a positive note that hopefully sends us into a good second half of the season.”

Oak Hill, which itself had been scoreless the first two weeks before scoring a touchdown in Week 3 against Poland, came into Week 4 with confidence. The Raiders (1-3) channeled that confidence by spoiling Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale’s home debut on turf with a 20-12 win.

Oak Hill’s Kai Taylor showed true poise for a freshman quarterback, throwing for two touchdowns and 136 yards in the win. The Raiders fell behind 12-0 early in the second quarter before scoring three unanswered touchdowns to notch their first win over the Ramblers (1-3) since 2017.

Mt. Blue and Mount View, also 0-4, are now the only winless teams in the region.

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