Morning Sentinel
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Chadwick's 3 TDs, 2 timely INTs help Gardiner defeat Morse
Bookmark & share: digg del.icio.us Reddit
Reader Comments (below)
story tools
sponsored by
BY BILL STEWART Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 11/07/2009

BATH -- His first interception sent the Tigers into halftime with a lead and momentum.

His second sent them into the Pine Tree Conference Class B championship game.

Forrest Chadwick scored three touchdowns -- one on an interception return as time expired in the first half -- to lead the Gardiner Area High School football team past Morse 20-13 in a PTC B semifinal game Friday night at McMann Field.

He later intercepted a pass in the final minute of play to end Morse's final drive -- and season.

The third-seeded Tigers (8-2) will play No. 1 Leavitt (10-0) in the conference championship game next weekend. Leavitt beat Hampden 35-7 in the other PTC B semifinal Friday.

"It's huge for us," said Chadwick, who rushed for 55 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well. "We wanted this one."

The Tigers, who earned their first win over Morse (7-3) since the 2006 season, scored two touchdowns in the final 35 seconds of the first half to erase a 6-0 deficit.

The game-changing touchdown came as the final seconds of the first half ticked off the scoreboard with the teams deadlocked at 6-all.

With Morse facing a second-and-7 from its own 31, quarterback Mike Walton was forced out of the pocket and threw a wobbly ball into traffic.

Chadwick, who moments earlier had tied the game on a 4-yard touchdown rush with 35 seconds left in the half, went skyward to pick off the ball.

"I saw the ball in the air and I went for it," Chadwick said. "I knew there was like 1 or 2 seconds left and I wanted to make a play."

He did just that. Chadwick cut up the field, reversed direction and scored from 45 yards out to give Gardiner a 12-6 lead. Dennis Meehan added the extra point and the Tigers went into halftime up 13-6.

"It was a big play for us," Chadwick said. "It gave us a big boost heading into the half."

Morse coach Jason Libby shouldered the blame for the decision to throw the ball in his own end late in the half.

"It's my fault," he said. "We thought we could make a play and we couldn't."

The defending conference champion Shipbuilders couldn't come up with the big play all night. Twice in the first half they advanced the ball inside the Gardiner 15-yard line, and twice they came up short on fourth down.

"Our defense carried us," said Gardiner end Eddie Donnell, who along with Dylan Hensbee played a terrific game defensively. "We came up big when we had to."

Added Gardiner fullback Dalton Eldridge, who rushed for a game-high 118 yards: "Our defense was outstanding. I can't count how many times (Morse) could sniff the end zone and came away with nothing."

The Tigers padded their lead midway through the third quarter after forcing a turnover.

Morse running back Pat Wolfe -- who rushed for a team-high 83 yards -- fumbled on a reverse at the Gardiner 19-yard line with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third. Gardiner then marched down the field before Chadwick scored on a nifty bootleg run with 6 minutes, 50 seconds left in the quarter.

Meehan, a freshman, then added the extra point to put the Tigers up 20-6.

"We had run two, three power runs in a row," Chadwick said. "We had practiced rolling me out all week."

Chadwick and the Tigers certainly had the Shipbuilders fooled on the play. As the defense swarmed right, Chadwick cut back left and raced untouched into the end zone.

"Chadwick is just such a good athlete," Libby said.

Added Gardiner coach Jim Palmer: "He made some amazing athletic plays. He was hurting, too. He was sick and almost didn't play."

The Shipbuilders pulled within a touchdown at 20-13 when Walton rushed from a yard out with 1:24 left in the third.

However, they would get no closer as the Tigers defense dominated the fourth quarter.

Morse had two possessions in the final five minutes with a chance to drive for the game-tying score, but came up empty both times.

On its last possession, Chadwick intercepted Walton with 45 seconds left near midfield to end the game. Walton completed seven of his 14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

"Four the seniors, we were 0-3 against them," Chadwick said. "We wanted to get this one."

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com

Bookmark and share this story: digg del.icio.us Reddit

Reader comments

Click here to view or add reader comments