KITTERY — In the semifinal matchup of former Class C cellar-dwellers turned contenders, Traip Academy firmly put itself a step ahead Saturday at Alumni Field.
Traip’s defense forced four turnovers and posted its second playoff shutout — and fifth of the season — to beat No. 3 Maranacook 21-0 in a Campbell Conference Class C semifinal. For Traip, it was another significant step away from a 51-game losing streak its current seniors snapped when they were freshmen. Maranacook was 0-8 four years ago.
“Incredible. Incredible. We’ve talked about it since we were in seventh and eighth grade. We said that we were going to be the class to lead to the championship and nobody thought we could do it, and we’re on the road,” Traip senior fullback/linebacker Tyler Nay said.
A tough 2-yard touchdown run by Nay and his ensuing two-point conversion capped Traip’s first possession of the second half and gave the second-seeded Rangers (8-2) the winning margin.
Traip (8-2) will play undefeated and top-ranked Yarmouth (9-0) in Saturday’s Western Maine final at 12:30 p.m. The defending Class C champ Clippers have won 22 straight games.
“Look at where we’re going. (Zero) and 51 to (a title game)? Really?” Traip coach Ron Ross said. “You’re only as good as your seniors and we say it all year long, and our seniors are pretty damn good. So, here we are, you know. They got us here, and they’re taking us to the next level.”
Junior running back Cory Aldecoa also helped. He lugged the ball 34 times for 199 yards with a 14-yard touchdown for Traip’s first score. Some of his best work came when Traip went to an unbalanced line with junior tackles Dan Eddy and Ben Castellano on the left side along with senior guard Pat Norton. Traip had 279 yards of total offense, all on the ground, with Nay getting 79 on 11 carries. Center Joe Harty, sophomore guard Nick Ovington and tight ends Cam Cavanaugh and Nick Dulac also helped create a physical mismatch.
“Our line is outstanding,” Ross said. “That’s not a Class C line right there. That’s a Class A line, I don’t care what anybody says. All they did all offseason was get bigger, stronger, faster, and if you can’t run behind that line ?you shouldn’t be coaching.”
Traip made it 13-0 on a 1-yard run by quarterback Matt Clifford midway through the second quarter to finish a 62-yard drive that was jump-started by consecutive 18- and 12-yard runs around the left tackle by Aldecoa.
Maranacook, which finished the year 8-2, had beaten Traip, 22-6, in the season opener but was without four key starters. Scrapping its running attack early in the game, Maranacook coach Joe Emery called more than 25 pass plays despite saying that he was without his best receiver, Seth Miller (injured), and that his second-best pass catcher, tailback Luke Emery, who was limited by an ankle injury. Quarterback Caleb Castonguay finished 6 of 21 for 54 yards with two interceptions.
“Traip’s a really good team and I had four starters go out in the last week and a half, and I just couldn’t plug the dam anymore,” Emery said. “I thought we could do a really good job passing, and we didn’t get it done today. We didn’t execute and Traip did, as simple as that.”
Emery had just eight carries for 19 yards. Traip held Maranacook to 104 total yards and twice stopped the Bears in the red zone with turnovers.
“We caused turnovers today, and we didn’t have any turnovers,” Ross said. “(Maranacook) supposedly had the better defense. ?Our defense took that personal. Actually we took a lot of things personal this week.”
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