WELLS – A loud train whistle blew far away from Warrior Memorial Field as Eli Potter scored his final goal for the Wells football team on Friday night.

Potter, a senior fullback, provided his own train service. With the game tied at the half, Potter put the offense on his back, rushing for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the second half and Wells beat Winthrop 35-7 for the Class D South championship.

“I couldn’t have done this without my lead blocker on most of these plays (senior rusher Dom Buxton),” Potter said. “We found something (on offense) and stuck with it.”

Potter finished with 214 yards on 30 carries. The defending Class D state champion Warriors (10-0) will face the winner of Saturday’s Class D North championship between Foxcroft Academy and Winslow in the state final on Nov. 23 at Lewiston High School.

“We’re so excited, we’ve been looking forward to (these games) since we were little kids,” Potter said. “It’s such an honor to be here and make it to the state championship and hopefully win it next week.”

Winthrop finished the game 8-2.

Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Wells responded with a passing game. Quarterback Cal Moody, running to his right, threw a pass across his body to Buxton for a 39-yard field goal with 6:34 left in the second quarter. Sabin Piatek’s extra point tied the game 7-7.

Wells took to the air again to take the lead. With 7:42 left in the third quarter, Moody fooled the defense with a play-action pass and found Riley Murphy in a fly pattern for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Piatek’s extra point gave Wells a 14-7 lead. Moody completed 4 of 9 passes for 123 yards.

From there, it was Potter who consistently weaved his way through Winthrop defenders and picked up positive yardage on every run. He scored all three of his goals in the fourth quarter, highlighted by his 18-yard scoring run in the final two minutes of the game.

“(Potter) did the same thing Paul McDonough did to me in 2011 (when Wells won the Class B title) and said, ‘Give me the ball,'” Wells Coach Tim Roche said. he said. “All the offensive linemen said, ‘We got this, let’s go.’ They did a great job blocking up front and Eli is running tougher than nails.”

Defensively, Wells kept the Rambler’s rushing attack of Cody Cobb and Carter Rivers at bay, holding the duo to 51 total yards. This forced Winthrop to throw the ball more than it had in the playoffs. The Ramblers found early success in the passing game, with quarterback Braden Branagan throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Ben Porter in the first quarter. But Wells tightened up and was forced into three tackles, two by Buxton and another by Murphy.

“We just played our game (defensively),” Buxton said. “Our coaches made us work on our footwork so we could stay with the receivers (in practice). It was just regular defense for us.”

Even though Wells secured the win in the second half, Winthrop continued to battle, adapting to The Warriors’ physical style on both sides of the ball.

“(Wells) did a great job, great team,” Winthrop Coach Joel Stoneton said. “We left it all on the field. They clearly beat us tonight… (Potter) was the difference maker. You pick your poison, you either stack the box and cover the run or try to stop the pass.”

Wells will look for its seventh state title and fourth in Class D (2017, 2018, 2023) next weekend. The Warriors also have two Class B championships (1997, 2011) and one Class C title (2016).

“I’m so proud of these kids,” Roche said. “It’s nice to be back in the state finals and see what we can do.”

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