The Leavitt Area Hornets of Turner cruised to their second consecutive undefeated season on Saturday, dominating No. 1 Oceanside 71-12 in the Class C state championship game in Lewiston.
Leavitt — the state’s consensus No. 1 team regardless of class — broke the game open early, stretching out a 22-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and a 43-0 lead going into halftime.
On defense, the Swarm neutralized Oceanside’s high-octane offense right off the bat, returning a blocked punt for a touchdown on the fourth play from scrimmage. Oceanside had been averaging 45.6 points per game, but Leavitt didn’t allow an Oceanside first down until the Mariners’ fourth drive.
“The coaches put together a nice defensive scheme,” Leavitt’s senior All-Conference D-lineman Jace Negley said. “I feel like we did a great job executing. We’re so tight-knit together, it feels amazing.”
Hornet senior quarterback Noah Carpenter — the reigning Maine Gatorade Player of the Year — got to work with great field position all day long, and gladly took advantage.
Up 14-0 with 3:37 remaining in the first quarter, Carpenter inserted the dagger on fourth and 18, hitting his favorite target, senior Will Keach, for a brutal 31-yard touchdown. From there, Carpenter stayed hot, running in a 36-yard touchdown on Leavitt’s ensuing drive, and then finding senior Aiden Turcotte in space for a 48-yard touchdown to make it 36-0 with 8:42 remaining in the half.
“I had a couple reads going, and one of them bit up,” Carpenter said. “I just made the play; we got off to a good start.”
Coming into Saturday’s title game, Carpenter had compiled a well-balanced 2,960 total yards from scrimmage on the season, including 22 touchdowns in the air and 18 on the ground. As a kicker and strong safety, Carpenter had kicked 29 of 32 extra points, logged 104 tackles and picked off opposing quarterbacks five times.
On defense, Jace Negley and company dominated the line of scrimmage, preventing Oceanside’s All-Conference 1,000-yard rushers Cohen Galley and Aiden Sergent from getting remotely comfortable. Compounded by the slick conditions, the Mariners fumbled the ball an uncharacteristic three times in the first half, recovering all three.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot early; a lot of unforced errors,” Galley said. “We expected them to be physical, and they were the better team — but it just sucks to go out this way, it really hurts.”
In the second half, Galley and junior Robbie Blair got on the board for the Mariners, but Leavitt tacked on four of their own; from sophomore Mason Henderson, junior Keegan Reny, senior Brandon Bilodeau and Keach. Six different Hornets scored touchdowns on Saturday, including Negley’s first career touchdown for Leavitt late in the second quarter.
Stretching back to Sept. 2, 2022, the Hornets have strung together an incredible 23-game win streak, including victories over Class A powerhouses Thornton Academy, Oxford Hills and Portland.
“Our kids have a lot of love for each other, have a lot of love for the game of football and have a lot of love for their coaches,” Leavitt head coach Mike Hathaway said. “It’s priceless.”
