Greely’s Andrew Padgett celebrates a touchdown in the 30-26 win over Mt. Ararat. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record
Second chances aren’t guaranteed in football, but in Saturday’s eight-man Large School championship, both teams will have a shot at redemption.
Greely (8-1) and Mt. Ararat (8-2) face off for the title at 11 a.m. Saturday in Kennebunk
Last year’s runner-up, Greely is looking for the first state title in program history. This is Mt. Ararat’s first trip to the championship game since 2019, when it won the inaugural eight-man title.
“There’s a feeling of unfinished business with a lot of those seniors,” Greely Coach Caleb King said. “We lost to MDI (28-0 in the 2023 eight-man Large School championship). It was very good team that year, they played us tough, and we didn’t respond. But you know, I think that fire has certainly fueled them through the offseason and through the regular season, of being so close but falling short. So I feel pretty confident they’re motivated to go out there and finish this thing on Saturday.”
The second-seeded Rangers and fourth-seeded Eagles met in Topsham on Oct. 19, when the visitors squeaked out a 30-26 win behind the arm of sophomore quarterback Luke Piper (134 yards, 2 TDs) and big plays from senior quarterback Andrew Padgett (65-yard TD run, game-sealing interception). Senior running back Dash Farrell (117 yards, 3 TDs) led the way for Mt. Ararat before leaving with a lower body injury in the third quarter.
King is aware that Mt. Ararat has a familiarity with his team’s style of play, but expect Greely to continue the same balanced offensive attack (featuring weapons Wes Piper, Benjamin Kyles and Ben McCarron) and downhill defensive aggression (league-best 14.2 points per game allowed) that got the Rangers this far.
“We don’t need to make any wholesale changes on anything that we’re doing,” King said. “We just need to make sure that we were focused and we’re executing on those little details, because those things can matter in a game like this.”
Both teams put together convincing victories in last week’s semifinal round as Greely beat third-seeded Lake Region, 40-6, and Mt. Ararat avenged the other loss on its record against top-seeded Camden Hills, 48-12.
In the last few weeks, Mt. Ararat has added new blocking schemes to diversify its run game and shored up its passing coverage – two weaknesses in the Week 7 loss to Greely. Discipline has also improved. The Eagles have committed five penalties in its last two games, compared to 10 against the Rangers.
After Monday’s practice in which members of the 2019 championship team gave words of encouragement to the current Mt. Ararat squad, Coach Frank True said that the team recognized what needs to be fixed from the last time out and the Eagles have rallied together as a unit.
The offensive line (anchored by Aiden Christensen, Adrian Reyes and Martell Bowman) have helped power the offense to over 2,800 yards rushing and a league-best 43.4 points per game. Farrell has a majority of that production (1,950 yards rushing, 39 total touchdowns), but junior Nick Doughty (152 yards, TD in Week 7) can also carry the rock well.
A banner that reads “One Team, One Goal, Gold Ball” in support of the Mt. Ararat/Hyde eight-man football team hangs from the Sea Dog Brewing Co. awning ahead of Saturday’s state championship. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record
A sign in support of the Mt. Ararat/Hyde eight-man football team hangs near the F.J. Wood Bridge ahead of Saturday’s state championship game. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record