So this week, while preparing for a playoff opponent that his Oak Hill Raiders just walloped last weekend, the senior quarterback recalled a lesson learned long ago.

As a freshman, the Raiders beat Dirigo easily at the end of the regular season. In a playoff rematch, things didn’t go so smoothly for the Raiders.

“We played Dirigo my freshman year and won 33-0,” Therrien said. “Then we lost to them in the playoffs. We all knew we had that chip on our shoulders. We weren’t going to let that happen this year.”

Therrien used his arm and his legs to accomplish that goal. He passed for four touchdowns and ran for another two as Oak Hill routed Traip 48-6 in a Class C quarterfinal.

“We took what the defense gave us,” Therrien said. “Coach (Stacen Doucette) made some great calls. The defense gave up some little holes, and we just have to take it.”

Oak Hill (8-0) beat Traip (2-6) last week 32-6 in Kittery. Though Doucette said it’s a challenge to face a team on consecutive weeks, his Raiders did a fine job taking control of the game early and earning the win.

“Our focus today was just to execute and take what the defense gave us,” Doucette said. “No penalties and no turnovers.”

Therrien threw for 156 yards on seven completions and rushed for 100 yards on three carries. The Raiders totaled 417 yards of offense compared to an undermanned Traip team that managed just 112 total yards.

Evan Pledger rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries and scored the Rangers’ only touchdown.

“We have very good receivers,” said Therrien, who connected with three different players for touchdowns. “I don’t think I got touched once. We’ve got the best line in the conference.”

The Raiders defense gave up Pledger’s scoring run of 74 yards but held the Rangers in check the rest of the game. Ethan Barrett and Steve Gilbert each had interceptions. Brian Thorpe had a fumble recovery. Matt Clifford, Connor Elwell and Jonah Martin had tackles for a loss.

“Team defense is our concept,” Doucette said. “We expect everyone to do their job. It’s playing assignment football, and that’s what we did today.”

After a defensive stop to begin the game, the Raiders used just three plays to score on their first possession. After two incompletions, Therrien connected with Martin for a 49-yard touchdown play with 9:18 left in the first quarter.

After another stop, the Raiders made it 13-0. Therrien hooked up with Martin again. This time it was fourth-and-19 and the play went for 35 yards and the score with 4:15 left in the quarter.

“It’s a little bit different,” Therrien said of the passing attack. “The last couple of years we had the best running backs in the conference, and we have damn good running backs now. I think it changes up the game a little bit. It doesn’t let the defense catch on to what we’re doing.”

Pledger gave Traip some life with his 74-yard run to make it 13-6 with 3:51 left in the quarter but Oak Hill answered that when Therrien burst free for a 63-yard run for a 21-6 lead with 3:04 left.

After putting up 21 points in the first quarter, Oak Hill repeated that feat in the second to build a 42-6 lead by the half. Therrien made it 28-6 with a 47-yard run with 10:22 left in the half. Then Therrien hit Connor Nilsson for a 31-yard scoring play with 5:43 left. After Traip fumbled the kickoff away with Thorpe recovering, Oak Hill turned that into points. Therrien found Darryn Bailey for 23 yards and a 42-6 lead with 2:56 left in the half.

Oak Hill added a Cruz Poirier rushing touchdown from the 10 in the third quarter.

“We show up and work hard,” Doucette said. “Every new opponent presents new challenges. We had a good game today and we played well. Both teams played hard.”

kmills@sunjournal.com