MDI Falls to Waterville in Regional 8-Man Large School Finals 22-12 [PHOTOS]

The MDI Trojans fell to the Waterville Panthers 22-12 on Friday night, November 4th at Alumni Field in Bar Harbor in the 8-Man Large School North Regional Finals. The game was a defensive struggle, with both teams shutting down the other's high powered offenses for the majority of the game.

The 1st Half saw both teams trading punts numerous times. Waterville and MDI each punted the ball 3 times.

Waterville scored 1st after MDI turned the ball over on downs, The Panthers took over on their own 35 yard line. With 9:05 left in the 1st Quarter they scored, on a 6 yard pass from Wyatt Gradie to Tyson Smith. The 2-point conversion was no good, and Waterville led 6-0. The drive took 1:19.

MDI would score after Brendan Graves recovered a fumble, with the Trojans taking over on the Waterville 42 yard line with 45.1 seconds remaining in the 1st Quarter.

Aidan Grant scored, to tie the score, powering in from 1 yard out. The 2-point conversion was no good, and with 6:57 left in the 1st Half, the score was tied 6-6. The drive took 5:48.

MDI would score again with 2:04 remaining in the 1st Half, on a beautiful 44 yard pass from Laurendeau to Jacob Shields. The 2-point conversion was no good, and the Trojans led 12-6 at the end of the 1st Half.

MDI's defense limited Waterville to just 57 yards passing and 10 yards rushing in the 1st Half. Waterville's defense held MDI in check, allowing just 88 yards on the ground and 56 yards passing in the 1st Half.

On their 2nd possession of the 2nd Half, Waterville would score again, to take the lead. Dustan Hunter, replacing Wyatt Gradie at quarterback, lofted a 30 yard pass to Spencer Minihan for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion was good, and with 11:25 remaining in the game, Waterville led 14-12. The drive took 6:56.

Waterville iced the game, when Hunter ran in from 17 yards out with 3:31 left in the game. The 2-point conversion was good, to make the final score 22-12.

Waterville will now play Yarmouth in the State Championship on Saturday, November 12th at Cony High School in Augusta. Yarmouth defeated Mt. Ararat 20-18 to win the Southern Maine 8-Man Large School Championship.

Stats.

Rushing

MDI