CUMBERLAND — Will Schumacher intercepted a pass with about 20 seconds to play and returned it 35 yards for the winning touchdown as Greely pulled out a 22-14 win against Biddeford in a Class B South quarterfinal Friday night.
No. 4 Greely (5-4), which also eliminated Biddeford last year’s quarterfinals, advances to play No. 1 Kennebunk (9-0). Biddeford, the No. 5 seed, ends at 4-5.
“I’m just running through my drop and I turned and saw the ball coming straight at me, so I step for it and grab it and it was just open field from there,” said Schumacher.
Greely was stopped on downs at the 15 with about one minute remaining.
The scoreboard clock did not work the entire game.
With a first down from their own 26 and 28 seconds left, Biddeford tried to move the ball downfield, but Carter Edgerton’s pass over the middle was intercepted by Schumacher, who sped into the end zone.
Joey Cassella added the 2-point conversion.
“That was on me, that’s as simple as it was,” said Biddeford Coach Brian Curit of the decision to try to play for the win rather than going to overtime. “We wanted to go for the win. Our center had gotten hurt and I didn’t want to go into overtime. I thought it was a play that might go, and it didn’t go.”
A final desperation heave by Edgerton was intercepted by Nick Male.
Greely dressed 19 players and suffered game-ending injuries to two defensive linemen in the second half.
“It feels amazing. We get it done every single year,” said Cassella. “I don’t even know how many kids we had suited up. It doesn’t matter. We just go out there and play, and I love it.”
Biddeford erased a 14-0 deficit with two touchdown runs by Aiden Donovan after Greely intentionally took a safety. The second TD came after a successful onside kick.
“It looked like we were running out of gas, we had people hurt and everything else,” said Greely Coach David Higgins. “We had a couple kids just absolutely step up again, and the interception was just amazing.”
Greely physically controlled the first half, starting with a defensive stand after Edgerton intercepted a pass on the Rangers’ third play from scrimmage.
A potential Biddeford touchdown was wiped out by a penalty, and then Greely’s defense held.
Greely got on the board in the first quarter with a 19-yard run by Joey Cassella, who put his team in scoring position with a tackle-breaking 43-yard burst.
Eight penalties kept the Rangers from doing more damage in the first half (they finished with 13 penalties for 127 yards. But Greely overcame one of the holding calls, as Nick Male connected with Naveen Caron on third-and-18 for a 23-yard gain to the 12, and Luke Stickney scored from the 8 on a reverse.
Greely had a 149-31 edge in yards in the first half.
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