A dramatic weekend of football, soccer and cross country action is in the books and local teams made plenty of noise.

Here’s a glimpse:

Football

A year ago, as the No. 3 seed, the Brunswick football team went to powerhouse Lawrence and sprung an upset in the Eastern A semifinals. Friday night, the Dragons did it again in much more surprising fashion. After closing with three successive victories, Brunswick wound up 5-3 and earned the eighth and final playoff seed, earning a date at top-ranked, unbeaten Lawrence Friday night.

The Dragons dug an early 13-0 hole, but rallied to take a 14-13 lead when Keith Kitchens hit Donald Benbow on a halfback option TD pass. Brunswick’s defense held from there and the Dragons advanced to face No. 4 Lewiston (7-2) in Friday night’s semifinals. Back on Sept. 24, Brunswick lost, 28-12, at the Blue Devils.

In Eastern B, Morse wasn’t as fortunate. The Shipbuilders, who garnered the eighth and final spot after a 2-6 campaign, had to go to top-ranked, undefeated defending state champion Leavitt for the quarterfinals and were buried, 52-8. Morse’s lone score came from halfback D’Vaughn Myers on a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter. The Shipbuilders’ season ended at 2-7.

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Boys’ soccer

The Brunswick boys’ soccer team made it to Wednesday’s regional final against Bangor. The Dragons, the defending regional champions, went 11-3 this fall, good for the No. 3 seed in Eastern A. They advanced by virtue of a 6-0 home romp over No. 6 Mt. Blue in the quarterfinals and a 1-0 home victory over No. 7 Messalonskee in the semis. Brunswick didn’t face the top-ranked Rams of Bangor this fall. They last met in last year’s regional final (a 2-1, double OT victory for the Dragons).

If Brunswick was able to pull the mild upset, it will face either Portland (14-1-1) or Gorham (11-3-2) in Saturday’s Class A Final, likely at Falmouth High School.

Morse’s best season in years came to an end in the semifinals. The Shipbuilders went 9-5 in the regular season and earned the No. 4 seed in Eastern A. They held off visiting No. 5 Waterville, 2-0, in the quarterfinals, but were ousted, 5-0, at top-ranked Bangor Saturday to wind up 10-6.

“It’s a really disappointing way to end a terrific season,” said Morse coach Thomas Rackmales. “We had unbelievable support from our fans today, all season really. We’re so grateful for that support and sorry we couldn’t give a better show. I’m sad for our seniors. They led the way all year with commitment and focus. We’ll look back on this season with pride. The team had some really good wins and we had fun together.”

Girls’ soccer

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The top-ranked Brunswick girls entered the week two wins from defending their Class A crown. The Dragons were an untouchable 14-0 in the regular season and had their way with No. 8 Erskine (4-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Hampden (3-0) in the semis, setting up a home regional final test against second-ranked Bangor Wednesday. The teams didn’t play this season. They last met in the 2008 quarterfinals (a 2-0 Brunswick win).

If the Dragons move on to another state game, they’ll either face Scarborough (16-0) or Thornton Academy (13-3), the team they vanquished a year ago, in the Class A state final Saturday, likely at Falmouth High.

Cross country

The cross country state championship meets were held Saturday in Belfast and Mt. Ararat sparkled.

The Eagles were second in both meets, running behind Scarborough’s boys and Cheverus’ girls.

Mt. Ararat’s girls’ team was paced by junior Emma Wood (fifth, 19:11.57). Senior Kate Spies (ninth, 19:40.93), junior Emelia McGrath (13th, 19:53.89), senior Chloe Emerson (20th, 20:34.28) and sophomore Lauren McNett (23rd, 20:38.62) also scored for a team total of 68 points, 23 behind the Stags.

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Brunswick’s girls were fifth with 168 points. Junior Kathleen McMahon (seventh, 19:17.68) led the way with freshman Teresa Murphy (16th, 19:59.04), freshman Sabrina Levesque (41st, 21:27.86), senior Meghan McDonough (45th, 21:45.77) and junior Jasmine Boyle (59th, 22:22.75) also scoring.

Morse didn’t score as a team, but two individuals took part. Sophomore Charlotte Recknagel had the 46th-fastest time (21:41.80) and freshman Amy Franklin was 51st (21:59.02).

On the boys’ side, Mt. Ararat had 96 points and was 25 behind Scarborough. The Eagles featured individual runner-up, junior Andy Reifman-Packett (16:28.85), along with other scorers senior Nick Parsons (10th, 16:57.35), senior Jake Letourneau (14th, 17:06.50), senior Nick Demosthenes (28th, 17:44.98) and senior Peter Burtt (42nd, 18:12.16).

Brunswick was 14th with 289 points. Junior Jacob Schwab (35th, 17:56.81), senior George Mills (36th, 18:01.02), junior Benson Worthington (55th, 18:29.61), sophomore Alex Nichols (76th, 19:07.90) and senior Patrick Horan (87th, 19:34.34) were the scorers.

Mt. Ararat’s Reifman-Packett and Parsons, Wood, Spies and McGrath, along with Brunswick’s McMahon and Murphy, made the cut and qualified for the New England championships, to be held Saturday, Nov. 13 in Vermont.

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Brunswick’s Kathleen McMahon is closely followed by Mt. Ararat’s Emma Wood during Saturday’s Class A state championship meet. Wood wound up passing McMahon to finish fifth, while McMahon placed seventh. The Eagles were second to Cheverus as a team. The Dragons came in fifth.

Morse’s Charlotte Recknagel took part as an individual and had the 46th-fastest time.


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