The Hermon Hawks extended their winning streak to four games on Friday, shutting out the Nokomis Warriors 28-0 at home on Pottle Field.
Now 5-3, the Hawks clinched the No. 3 seed in Class C North and will play 1-7 No. 6 Brewer at home next Friday in the first round of the playoffs.
On offense, the Hawks sandwiched a grindy, 12-play third-quarter scoring drive with three quick touchdowns of 52, 75 and 46 yards.
For Hermon’s first big play, junior quarterback Bruce Coulter rolled out right and hit freshman Ethan Curtis streaking deep for 52 yards Hermon’s first completion of the night.
In the fourth quarter, senior Damon Kimball and freshman Sam Hopkins broke loose for touchdown runs of 75 and 46, speeding away into the Hermon night and slamming the door on their visitors from Newport.
Coulter and Curtis split snaps under center for the Hawks, with Coulter passing for 27 and running for 23 yards — including a touchdown — on 10 total attempts. Curtis threw for 14 yards on five attempts.
On defense, the Hawks were all over the Nokomis backfield, allowing less than 125 total yards of offense, and sacking quarterback Logan Washburn twice.
The win capped off a turnaround regular season for the Hawks, who at one point were 1-3 and had lost star backs Alec Smith and Max Hopkins to injury for the year. Since Sept. 30, the Hawks have beaten Maine Central Institute 40-13, Old Town 34-6, Hampden Academy 22-18 and now Nokomis 28-0.
