CUMBERLAND — Overcoming the loss of its best player and team leader, Greely eked out an 8-6 win against Mt. Ararat in a Class B South football game Friday night at Glenn Hutchins Field.
The Rangers reeled off their fifth consecutive win despite playing the entire second half without quarterback Nick Gauvin, who remained on the sideline because of a possible concussion.
“It is a big loss, but we always talk about adversity, and (backup quarterback) Nick Male did a fantastic job.” Greely Coach David Higgins said.
Male, a sophomore, took over for Gauvin at quarterback in the second half. “Nick (Gauvin) was tutoring him on the sidelines,” Higgins said. “He wasn’t feeling sorry for himself.”
All the scoring occurred in the last two minutes of the first half.
With 1:30 left, Gauvin sneaked in from the 2 to cap an eight-play, 52-yard drive that started after Tim Coyle intercepted a pass.
Gauvin scrambled 22 yards off a busted pass play to move the Rangers into Mt. Ararat territory. On third down, he threw 25 yards to Nolan Anderson, then he connected with Coyle for a 7-yard gain to set up the touchdown. Joey Casella rushed for the 2-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Mt. Ararat (2-5), which is fighting for one of the last two playoff berths in Class B South, quickly responded with its only touchdown.
The scoring drive started when Ryan Mello returned the kickoff 30 yards to midfield. After throwing a 7-yard pass to Mello and running for 10 yards, quarterback Jacob O’Neill threw a 20-yard pass to Jacob Steinman at the Greely 11. Three plays later, John Hetherman scored on a 6-yard run. The Rangers stopped Mello short of the goal line, however, when he tried to run for the 2-point conversion.
Neither team was able to do much offensively in the second half.
“Basically, what they did was they put 10 men in the box,” said Mt. Ararat Coach O’Neil LaPlante. “It made it very difficult for us to run.”
The Rangers also forced four turnovers in the second half.
“Our defense did a good job,” Higgins said. “We really worked hard on our defense this past week, and the guys did a great job. They showed up.”
Neither team produced 200 total yards.
“They pounded and pounded us and we pounded and pounded them,” LaPlante said. “It was just two teams going at each other tooth and nail.”
“It was ugly, but we won,” Higgins said. “(Mt. Ararat) played us very tough, and we were fortunate to win.”
The victory clinched a playoff berth for Greely and kept the Rangers in contention for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, with one game remaining against rival Falmouth.
Mt. Ararat needs a win next week over Morse to have a chance to make the playoffs.
“When we got together at the end of the game, I said (to my players) ‘it’s like taking a really nasty-tasting pill,'” LaPlante said. “However, part of the game is you keep your head up and you play the game like gentlemen and you do the best you can, and you get ready for the next one.”
UPDATE: The story was updated with the correct spelling of Greely quarterback Nick Male.
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