READFIELD -- It was a battle of contrasting quarterbacks Saturday afternoon in a pivotal Pine Tree Conference Class B showdown.

On one side, it was the legs of Maranacook Community High School senior Pat Norwood, who missed the last three games with an ankle injury.

On the other, it was the arm of Oak Hill junior Brett Turcotte.

Both signal callers put on a show, but in the end, it was simply too much Turcotte.

Turcotte threw for 212 yards and a touchdown to lead the Raiders past the Black Bears 18-14 before about 450 fans. Adam Hathorne rushed for two third-quarter touchdowns as Oak Hill erased an 8-6 halftime deficit.

The Raiders (2-4), who kept their playoff hopes alive, overcame two turnovers and a Turcotte sack from inside the Maranacook 10-yard line with less than 10 seconds left in the first half.

"This is a big morale boost for us," said Turcotte, who completed 9 of 15 passes.

Added Oak Hill coach Bruce Nicholas: "We're in the top eight. We're pretty much in (the playoffs)."

The Black Bears (0-5) opened the game with an eight-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Norwood rushed for 46 of those yards, including a 1-yard score. He then threw the two-point conversion pass to James Mrazik to put Maranacook up 8-0.

From there, it was all Hathorne, Turcotte and senior split end Ben Rines.

After the teams traded turnovers in the first quarter, including an Oak Hill fumble on the Maranacook 8, Turcotte put the Raiders on the scoreboard with a 74-yard pass to Rines down the far sideline.

Rines, who caught five passes for a game-high 129 yards, had caught a few balls in the flat before switching his route on the scoring strike, which came with 4 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter.

"I switched with the tight end in the flats," Rines said. "I did an out-and-go pattern and got behind the secondary. It felt pretty good. The long ones all feel pretty good."

Maranacook coach Kevin Norwood acknowledged he didn't anticipate Oak Hill to air it out.

"We were prepared for a little but, but not as much as they did," he said.

The Raiders failed to convert the two-point play, but momentum had shifted away from the Maranacook sideline.

And it never returned, despite a brilliant day from Norwood, who rushed for 188 yards. Although he's not quite 100 percent, Norwood said he was healthy enough to play.

"I still felt it a little bit," he said. "It was much better."

The Raiders trailed 8-6 at the half, although their final drive stalled at the Maranacook 2 when Dylan Bandon and Zach Snell sacked Norwood in the closing seconds.

Hathorne (48 yards on 15 carries) scored from 20 and 15 yards out in the third to put Oak Hill up for good.

"We found a way to move the ball," Nicholas said. "At the beginning, I didn't know what to call. A couple of games the pass bailed us out, (and) today it did."

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com