The chant began with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as the Portville Panthers made one last attempt to score.
"I believe," the Maple Grove crowd cheered, its words bellowing into the starless sky, "I believe that we have won. I believe that we will be taking a bus ride to 'The Ralph." '
And after Portville quarterback Colt Lowe threw his final pass, one that fell to the ground on fourth and 11, two downs of a knee made that belief amongst the cheering crowd. It was a belief that many fans would undoubtedly say they had maintained since day one of the season become a reality.
Maple Grove will now face Frewsburg, 38-24 victors over Randolph, for the Section 6 Class D football title on Thursday at Ralph Wilson Stadium at 6 p.m.
The Maple Grove Red Dragons bookended its run to the Class D final with a pair of shutout victories over the Panthers, the latest coming on a chilly Friday evening on the Dutch Hollow Road, 28-0.
In the two squad's Week One meeting, Oliver Simpson rushed for a hefty 125 yards on a mere seven carries and the Red Dragons as a team racked up 340 yards on the ground. On Friday, the numbers were equally impressive.
Simpson gained 222 of the 293 total Maple Grove yards on offense on 25 carries and added a pair of touchdowns. John Nickerson added 54 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts and unfamiliar face reached the end zone as well. That was offensive and defensive tackle David Waterman, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound bruiser who barreled across the goal line from the 1 to give the Red Dragons the 28-0 advantage early in the fourth period.
At the start of the game it was Portville's plan to stack the box with as many bodies as possible to take away the formidable Red Dragon rushing attack. In response, Coach Curt Fischer had quarterback Alex Grace drop back on consecutive opening drive plays and loft long passes down the sideline.
Though the passes fell incomplete, they did create the desired effect.
"We had to try to get them off of us," Fischer said. "They had eight people in the box-sometimes nine-and they were bringing everything at us so we tried to get them to back off a little bit."
On the ensuing Maple Grove drive, the Red Dragons drove down the field on eight rushing plays-the eighth a handoff to Nickerson from the 1 for the touchdown. After a Jason Pembridge kick, Maple Grove led, 7-0, with just 24 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Panthers and Maple Grove each punted on their first possessions of the second quarter, but then on Portville's third possession it was able to put together its most impressive drive of the night.
Spreading the field out from sideline to sideline with multiple five-receiver sets, Lowe, starting at his own 32, led the Panthers methodically down the field. He hit Chris Hellwig in the flat for a 9-yard gain. He found Ryan Marcellin for another 9 yards, then rushed for 10 more on a quarterback keeper and finally, just as he was being brought down by a Maple Grove defender, threw a strike to Zach Pilger for a 6-yard gain, bringing the team down to the Maple Grove 12.
"I don't think anyone spreads it out as much as they do," Fischer said. "They do a great job with it, you can't get to the quarterback because he is a great athlete and they are just a really well-coached team. They've come a long way this season so I really can't say enough good things about them."
With their backs against the wall, however, the Maple Grove defense buckled down.
After two incomplete passes, Lowe dropped back for a third time and fired a quick pass to his wide receiver, who was running a quick slant. Cornerback Skylar Liddell, however, read the play from the start and jumped the route, intercepting the pass and bringing to a screeching halt Portville's best chance to score and knot the game at seven apiece.
Fischer was impressed with the defense, which adapted quickly to the many different looks of the Portville spread offense.
"(Dave) Emley (defensive coordinator) does a great job. He threw some different stuff out there tonight and I don't know how our kids understand it all sometimes," Fischer said with a laugh. "I have to give high praise for coach Emley. He just does a great job and we are very fortunate to have him."
The Emley-led defense held Portville to just 195 total yards of offense. Lowe finished 16 of 41 for 161 yards and the team's leading receiver was Gunnar Vancuren, who caught six passes for 84 yards.
On the very next play after the interception, Simpson burst up the middle for 43 yards and then, three plays later he capped the 80-yard drive with a 19-yard scamper to paydirt.
It was all Simpson to start the third quarter as he was handed the ball on eight of 11 plays and gained 65 yards before scoring his second touchdown of the night and making the score 21-0 Maple Grove.
Now all that stands between the Red Dragons and their first Section 6 title since 2008 are the Frewsburg Bears.
"It's going to be a heck of a game," Fischer said.
Portville0 0 0 0 - 0
Maple Grove7 7 7 7 - 28
Map-Nickerson 1 run (Pembridge kick)
Map-Simpson 19 run (Pembridge kick)
Map-Simpson 3 run (Pembridge kick)
Map-Waterman 1 run (Pembridge kick)
