A poor first half put the Boothbay Seahawks squarely behind the eight-ball trailing 24-6 against Telstar Sept. 30 in eight-man football. But an ill-advised pass in the half’s final minute turned into a Rebel pick-six, turning Boothbay’s prospects from bad to worse. Boothbay now trailed, 30-6, with only half the game gone.  

Despite the deficit, a massive fourth quarter rally put Boothbay in position to win the game until a muffed punt extinguished the comeback. Telstar held on and pulled off a 36-35 victory over Boothbay at Sherman Field. 

This was Boothbay’s fourth consecutive loss. Last week, Boothbay lost another close encounter to Dirigo, 14-12, which brought Coach Ed Crocker hope his squad had learned from past mistakes in turning the season around. “We did a much better job at accepting the coaching in the second half. We shut down their offense, and our offense made some big plays,” he said. “But the first half, we made too many mistakes. We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot and a lot of it is not enough listening to the coaches.”

With 10 minutes remaining, Boothbay began its improbable comeback by scoring on consecutive offensive plays and blocking a punt. The three scores trimmed Telstar’s lead to 30-27. Quarterback Drew Meader connected with Kayden Ames on two long touchdown passes and Dylan Plummer blocked a punt, resulting in a touchdown. With four minutes remaining, the Boothbay defense pinned Telstar deep in its territory.  Three plays later, a Rebel punt was misplayed and recovered by the kicking team, ending the rally. “This is a game we should’ve won. We didn’t play well for most of the game, but I will give them credit for playing hard and not quitting,” Crocker said. “Even with all the mistakes, we still had a chance to win in the end.”

On offense, Meader led the passing attack with three touchdown passes. He completed seven of 14 passes for 179 yards. Kayden Ames was the team’s leading rusher and receiver. He rushed for 84 yards on 23 carries. He caught four passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. The Boothbay rally began when Meader hit Ames on a swing pass which he scored on. Meader then connected with Connor Wenners on a 53-yard pass play on Boothbay’s next offensive play.

Telstar improves to 3-2. No. 6 Boothbay will host No. 1 Mountain Valley (5-0) Friday on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.