DIXFIELD — When it comes to weather, Kyle Flaherty and Alex Mace of Oak Hill will take snow over rain any day.
One week after getting stuck in the mud in a rainy one-point win over Maranacook, the Raiders bounced back with a 25-6 win over Dirigo in the Western Class D football semifinals at snowy Harlow Park.
“It definitely woke us up,” Mace said of Oak Hill’s 7-6 win over Maranacook. “Our eyes opened. We knew what we were up against.”
“It gave us a taste of what it’s like to lose and we didn’t want to give that up our senior season,” Flaherty said. “We came to work last Monday and we worked hard every day.”
The Raiders will meet Lisbon or Old Orchard Beach, who meet Saturday, in the regional final next weekend.
Flaherty paced the Raiders with 140 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, and Mace carried 11 times for one touchdown and 113 yards, including a 75-yard run in the fourth quarter.
“We practiced our mud offenses all week. We practiced for the worst,” Flaherty said. “If it had been bad we would have practiced for that but we had good field conditions so we were able to cut.”
The Raiders (9-1) displayed that ability on the opening drive, going 69 yards on 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead on a 1-yard plunge by Flaherty.
He added a 3-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second quarter and the Raiders led 12-0 at halftime.
The Cougars (7-2) cut the deficit to 12-6 when Riley Robinson capped a seven-play, 45-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run.
But Mace and Flaherty then split carries on a 12-play, 55-yard drive that Flaherty capped with another 1-yard run to make it 19-6 with 2:11 left in the third.
Mace then scored on his 75-yard run.
“All credit to the line,” Mace said. “There was a giant hole. They took me all the way.”
Oak Hill relied heavily on the double wing and used it to run out the final 8:57.
“We feel we do a bunch of different things,” Oak Hill Coach Stacen Doucette said. “We feature different plays and different offenses.”
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