In new 7-on-7 format due to pandemic, host Lions fall to Golden Bucks 13-12
BELFAST — Sure, it had a bit of a different look. And a different feel. But football is back on the high school gridiron.
And the Friday, Sept. 25 7-on-7 game between Belfast and visiting Bucksport was exciting from start to finish — and went down to the wire.
In the end, the Lions failed to execute a two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter, which gave the Golden Bucks just enough to escape with a hard-fought, 13-12 victory.
Watch video and see more than 60 photos below.
In the flag football format, the Lions had a handful of pass catchers on the night, including Josh Fairbrother, Cam Watts, Frank Martin, Chris Kelley, Matthew LeBlanc, Jackson Lapierre, Kaden Bonin, Steven Friel and Pete Lovejoy, but it was the clutch grabs of Cole Martin that kept Belfast close on the scoreboard as he hauled in touchdown passes in the second and fourth quarters from teammate Keegan McGowan.
James Whiting started game at quarterback for Belfast and Curtis Littlefield played the position as well, but McGowan took the majority of snaps under center for the Lions.
Ayden Maguire and Stanley Logan split time at signal-caller for Bucksport.
Donald Eldridge, Aiden Day, Ty Giberson, Gavin Billings, Kase Honders, Stanley Logan had grabs for Bucksport, as Honders and Billings collected TD grabs. Giberson booted the extra point for the visitors.
Belfast won the turnover battle as it picked off four Bucksport passes — two by McGowan and one by Fairbrother and Kelley — but were able to only get six points off those turnovers as the Golden Bucks held off the Lions late.
The first quarter went scoreless, but the visitors put themselves on the board one play into the second after the final play of the first saw the Lions commit a pass interference penalty.
That set up an untimed down to start the second quarter, which saw Billings collect a 20-yard touchdown pass to put the Golden Bucks up 6-0.
Both teams had tough breaks in the second quarter as the Lions turned the ball over on downs after a catch by LeBlanc was stopped right at the sticks on fourth down, while Bucksport’s Jacob Guty had a 50-yard catch wiped off the board after an illegal formation penalty.
But a bit of trickery to end the first half — in the form of a hook-and-ladder play from Martin to Veilleux for a 25-yard gain — helped get the hosts on the scoreboard.
After the strong gainer, Martin made a 10-yard scoring catch in the back of the end zone with 17 seconds to play to knot the score before Kelley's interception on the ensuing Golden Buck possession brought the half to a close.
Bucksport pulled ahead for good on its first possession of the second quarter after a 9-yard TD catch by Honders and Giberson's extra point made the score 13-6.
The first play of the fourth quarter saw Martin haul in an impressive catch up the right sideline that he took to the house for a touchdown — set up by a McGowan interception on the previous play — but the score stayed at 13-12 after the Lions opted to go for two and settled for an incomplete pass.
Fairbrother picked off a pass on Bucksport’s next possession as Belfast looked to take the lead, but the long, methodical drive eventually stalled on the 18-yard line with about 3:30 to play.
A clutch third-down grab by Logan — and another long completion moments later — sealed the deal for the Golden Bucks as the Lions were unable to stop the clock.