WELLS — As Veteran’s Day drew closer to an end on Thursday, players were still flying around under the dimly lit sky above Warrior Memorial Field, home to the Wells football team.
The end of the day meant the Warriors were one day closer to their biggest battle of the year, playing Mountain Valley in the Western Class B championship game. On Saturday in Rumford, the Falcons will make their ninth appearance in the regional final in this decade. For Wells, it will be their first regional final appearance since 2003. Wells’ lone state championship came in 1997, when the Warriors beat Belfast 32-30.
One would think the practice would be at a frenetic pace on Thursday. While it was business-like in the technical aspects of what Mountain Valley might run for plays, the team was loose and worry free. It was just the way head coach Tim Roche wanted it.
“We talk about the history of Mountain Valley-Wells and Mountain Valley itself,” Roche said. “The kids and the coaches have a lot of respect for what they do up there. They’re just a loose group, anyway. If you told them they were going to play the Patriots this week, you would get the same look on their faces and the same way they go about it. That’s kind of fun, there’s not a lot of tension there before games. You don’t see kids a lot of kids get tense. They’re going to talk, and then they get ready to play, when it comes time. Kids get ready in their own way. You use to see old school guys that say no talking in the locker room. The kids get ready in their own way.”
The game itself will be a matchup of a high-powered Falcon offense against the stout defense of Wells. Mountain Valley has averaged 38 points per game this season on offense, mostly because of the backfield tandem of running backs Josh Allen and Taylor Bradley. The Falcons have also had success throwing the ball with their quarterback, Cam Kaubris.
However, the Warriors come in with a defense that has only allowed an average of eight points per game this season, and they have not allowed more than 14 points in any of the 10 games they have played. The Warriors have also produced two shutouts as a defensive unit.
On offense, Roche said quarterback Paul McDonough will be relied on to lead the Warriors to points. While McDonough doesn’t come out with eye-popping statistics, he’s shown leadership and intangibles at the position, and more importantly, he’s been a winner in his two seasons leading the Wells offense.
“I kind of liken him to Doug Flutie, that’s who I compare him too,” Roche said. “He had that piece to him that when something was going on he would always understand and get it done, and it just happened. Paul is not a leader vocally, but he just takes over naturally, and it just naturally flows for him. In any sport he plays, it just happens for him. The way he can play both sides of the ball and make things happen, he’s just a player that can play at the next level in my mind. He just has that, some colleges run the spread offense and he could do that. He can throw the ball a mile, it’s not like he can just run the ball, he can throw the ball accurately as well.”
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Falcons pulled out a 14-6 win over the Warriors in Rumford on Sept. 17, thanks mostly to a 75-yard touchdown run by punter Rashad Lavoie, after a botched snap.
Roche said much like last week in the 47-7 win over Cape Elizabeth, turnovers and limiting penalties will once again be key to the Warriors’ success.
“We did some things well [against Mountain Valley], and we did some things not so well, and hopefully we correct the things we didn’t do well,” Roche said.
Kickoff for the contest is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Hosmer Field in Rumford.
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