Moving On Moving on. Senior Peter Jose (#54) and junior Shawn McDuff (#34) look to block for senior running back Tim Stover during a running play late in Friday night's playoff game between the Seahawks and the Jay Tigers. (Photo Kevin Burnham)

Good football teams find a way to come out on top in big games and that is exactly what the Seahawks did on Friday, November 2, as they came from behind to earn a 14-12 victory over the Jay Tigers in a regional semifinal at Sherman Field.

Trailing 12-8 after one half, the Seahawks would also have to kickoff to Jay to start the third period, meaning a defensive stop on the first series was of major importance.

Behind the running of Nick Bourassa the Tigers moved the ball from their own 35-yard line to inside Boothbay territory on just four plays, but two plays later, the Seahawks got the break they needed as they recovered a mishandled handoff to take possession near midfield.

With not a lot of success running the ball in the first half, the Seahawks went immediately to the air as quarterback Sam Cook connected with Kris Noonan on the left sideline for a first-down pickup. On the second play, Cook went to Joe Farrin for another 11-yard gain before the eventual game winner followed two plays later when Cook found a wide open Tim Stover in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 8:03 to play in the third period.

The Seahawk defensive unit did its job on the next two Jay possessions as the visiting Tigers failed to pick up a first down or advance the ball over midfield.

A potential scoring drive for the Seahawks stalled inside the Jay 25-yard line when a sack set up a third down and long situation. An incomplete pass led to a punt which unfortunately ended up in the end zone for a touchback, giving the Tigers the ball at their own 20-yard line.

The Tigers picked up nothing on first down and then were flagged for holding on second down, but they were bailed out when a pass to Matt Schmidt gained 16 yards. Nineteen yards on three carries by Bourassa moved the ball near midfield but successive motion penalties eventually would be the downfall of the drive as the Tigers punted three plays later.

But the punt was not handled by the Seahawks as the Tigers recovered and were right back in business starting at the Boothbay 35-yard line.

With the season on the line, the Seahawks came up with the plays they needed as Jay moved the ball all the way inside the 10-yard line before Bourassa was thrown for an eight yard loss by Chris Graves and company.

Now with the ball at the 17-yard line, an incomplete pass was followed by just a two-yard completion to Bourassa, setting up a fourth and goal situation from the 15-yard line.

Quarterback Austin Clark lofted a pass to the back corner of the end zone looking for Bourassa but Graves was there to make the play, giving the ball back to Boothbay to run out the clock and advance to their second Western Maine final in three years and fourth in seven years.

The Tigers, who entered the game looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Seahawks, got on the scoreboard first when Clark connected with Schmidt for a 21-yard touchdown pass which completed a 12-play drive with 4:42 remaining in the opening period.

With their second possession of the game, the Seahawks were faced with a third down when Cook kept the ball himself and went 72 yards for the tying touchdown just over a minute later. Stover rushed for the two-point conversion to give Boothbay the 8-6 lead.

The lead was very short lived as the Tigers hit with a big play of their own when Bourassa got behind the Boothbay pass coverage for a 75-yard touchdown reception with 2:12 left in the first half. But the two-point conversion was stopped by the Seahawks which would show up to be very big later in the game.

With the victory, the Seahawks will now travel to Winthrop on Saturday afternoon for the Western Maine final where they look to avenge their own loss of the season. The Ramblers defeated the Seahawks 33-14 earlier in the season in the Harbor