Shocker in Tigertown: Gardiner stuns Cony in OT thriller

by **Tom Nolette** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 6:10 am

KJ football notes: Cony, Gardiner set to resume long-running rivalry
Even with both teams headed to playoffs, intensity high for annual showdown.

...The other games against the other teams came and went. But whenever the Rams and Tigers faced each other, the results left indelible marks.

“It’s one of those things,” said White, now the Gardiner coach. “I don’t remember much from any other games, other than those Cony games.”

The latest meeting in Maine’s oldest rivalry — the 140th overall, dating to 1892 — will take place Friday, with 5-2 Cony traveling to Hoch Field to face 2-5 Gardiner. It’ll be the final game of each team’s regular season, but neither one will see its year come to an end Friday night.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/16/ ... g-rivalry/

by **CM Newspapers** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:16 am

Maheux and Leadbetter lead Gardiner, Cony football from under the radar
Gritty linebackers have helped turn Tigers and Rams into strong defensive teams.

...“Something that he brings to the field is an intensity that we want other people to thrive off,” White said of Maheux, the team’s leading tackler at outside linebacker. “It’s aggression for four quarters, 48 minutes, non-stop. … Garrett’s really started to show he can step up to a level above his competition and make some big plays.”

Lippert spoke just as warmly of Leadbetter, who the Cony coach said was leading the Pine Tree Conference in tackles entering the week while playing out of the middle linebacker spot.

“He really is one of the smarter, if not the smartest guys on our defense,” he said. “He’s not your prototypical 6-foot-2, 225-pound inside linebacker, but he makes up for that by being smart, taking good angles. And when he hits you, you’re hit.”

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/18/ ... the-radar/

by **CM Newspapers** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 5:20 am

KJ football notes: Cony, Gardiner set to resume long-running rivalry
Even with both teams headed to playoffs, intensity high for annual showdown.

...The other games against the other teams came and went. But whenever the Rams and Tigers faced each other, the results left indelible marks.

“It’s one of those things,” said White, now the Gardiner coach. “I don’t remember much from any other games, other than those Cony games.”

The latest meeting in Maine’s oldest rivalry — the 140th overall, dating to 1892 — will take place Friday, with 5-2 Cony traveling to Hoch Field to face 2-5 Gardiner. It’ll be the final game of each team’s regular season, but neither one will see its year come to an end Friday night.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/16/ ... g-rivalry/

by **CM Newspapers** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:43 am

Contrasting styles set to square off when Cony football meets Gardiner
Rams head into game with aerial attack, while Tigers do damage on the ground.

...“We try to get the ball in space and make those guys miss. That’s kind of what our offense is predicated on,” Lippert said. “Those guys are athletic, and they don’t miss a lot of tackles.”

White said he’s been instructing his defense, led by linebacker Garrett Maheux, defensive back Kolton Brochu and defensive linemen Dylan Spencer and Roy Appleby, to keep it that way.

“It’s going to have to be an execution of basic fundamentals,” White said. “We’ve got to wrap up on defense. You don’t want to let this offense get rolling.”

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/19/ ... -gardiner/

by **CM Newspapers** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:07 am

Shocker in Tigertown: Gardiner stuns Cony in OT thriller
Collin Foye scores on Gardiner's 1st play of extra session to give Tigers wild victory.

...The players storming onto the field after the final play and the tears that remained on their faces even after the stands had emptied told the story. It was Gardiner’s first win in the series since 2011, and it felt like an even longer time coming.

“We were thinking back of all we fought through this year,” Foye, overcome with emotion, said after the game. “We did it for Taby (Hembree, who died in a car accident before the first day of school), we did it for the community. We did it for them.”

The rivalry had become one-sided. Cony (5-3) was going for its sixth straight win, and eighth in nine tries. Instead, the boot is back in Gardiner (3-5), presented to players who celebrated like they had just brought home a state championship.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/20/ ... -thriller/

by **CM Newspapers** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:11 am

When no one else would, Joe White believed
Gardiner coach told his team that its time was coming.

...“That’s good, that’s good,” White said his voice softening as he extended his right arm and put his reassuring hand on Heaberlin’s shoulder. “We’re going to be fine. We’re good.”

And then the coach, himself a one-time player in this 125-year-old rivalry, dropped his shoulders and walked in front of the Gardiner bench, repeating the words, over and over. “We’re good. We’re fine.”

And then…

“We’re going to win this game, boys.”

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/20/ ... -believed/