Brooks collected three of the Ramblers’ four interceptions and classmate Alec Brown ran for four touchdowns as part of a 38-8 victory over Dirigo in a Class D South semifinal at Maxwell Field.

“We’ve kind of held him back a bit, just to keep him fresh,” Ramblers coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “He’s such a weapon offensively, but he showed tonight he’s pretty darn good defensively too.”

Brooks said Friday night was probably the first time he’s had more interceptions than receptions. But he was still able to do with the catches what he usually does — make plays.

His first pick of No. 4 Dirigo (5-4) quarterback Luke Lueders might have been his biggest. With the top-seeded Ramblers (8-0) leading just 7-0 and the Cougars driving late in the first quarter Brooks hauled in a tipped pass in the end zone. But rather than kneel down for a touchback he took it out of the end zone and reeled off a 39-yard return.

“I just made sure I had a block before I came out of the end zone in case I could get more than 20 yards,” Brooks said.

St. Hilaire said he wasn’t too worried that Brooks went against the customary play of accepting the touchback.

“If he’s got the ball, just let him run,” St. Hilaire said. “He’s got some speed, he’s got moves, and our kids, they know if there’s an interception that quickly you’re on returning and blocking.”

The Ramblers followed with an 11-play drive that took them into the second quarter. Brown finished it with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.

Brown had given the Ramblers an initial lead on their second drive of the game. They got favorable field position to start after Cooper Chiasson’s knee hit the ground before he could get off a punt, giving the Ramblers the ball at the 15-yard line. Andrew Pazdziorko ran for 13 yards before Brown finished the two-play drive from two yards out.

“He’s got a nose for the end zone,” St. Hilaire said. “You just give him the ball down near the goal line.”

“I don’t really have to do too much there,” Brown said. “The line just makes a big hole for me, and I can just kind of walk in.”

“I pride myself in just finishing runs,” he added. “I want to fall forward, not fall backwards.”

Brooks picked off another Lueders pass to end Dirigo’s ensuing drive after Brown’s second touchdown run. Tyler Cote finished the drive with a 22-yard field goal.

“We knew we had to throw some coming into this game,” Dirigo coach Jim Hersom said. “We had a couple of spots there where we though we might be able to get something, but they’re good back there athletically. Two of those, the ball kind of went through our hands. They were Johnny-on-the-spot on those.”

The Cougars were still in it to start the second half, down just 17-0 and with the ball at their own 45-yard line after holding onto a Ramblers squib kick. But Brooks got his hands on another Lueders pass just two plays in and returned it 48 yards down to the 12-yard line. Brown ran in from four yards out three plays later and it was 24-0.

Lueders was picked off again to end the next drive, expect it was Nate Scott doing the honors, and he had no chance at a return.

“We’ve picked off a lot of passes this year,” St. Hilaire said. “I think we had two all of last year, and we’re getting them left and right. It’s better coverage, we’ve changed techniques, and the positional coaches do a great job with those guys.”

Brown capped off his scoring two drives later, rumbling in from just a yard out, giving him four touchdown runs that went for a combined 13 yards. Overall Brown ran 15 times for 54 yards, and also caught a 17-yard pass from Matt Ingram.

Brooks’ lone offensive catch went for 13 yards.

Dylan Boynton completed the scoring for the Ramblers with a 2-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. Cote made all five of his extra-point attempts.

Chiasson made sure the Cougars wouldn’t get shut out, breaking through the line for a 24-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds left in the game. Lueders ran in for the two-point conversion.

“We got three seniors, and we got 16 or 17 underclassmen that had a good season,” Hersom said. “We’re just going to build on the things that we accomplished this year and the last couple years. These kids will be back out there next year.”

The Ramblers’ season now continues in a big way, as they’ll host the Southern Maine regional final next weekend. They had been off for two weeks, thanks to a first-round bye and a bye to end the regular season. The way they played Friday night made it look like there wasn’t much rust to knock off.

“We’ve been waiting for this really for four weeks,” St. Hilaire said, with a nod to easier games at the end of regular season. “We want competition, guys like competing. We’ve competed at practice for four weeks. So to get out live, under the lights, meaningful game against a good team, it was pretty satisfying.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com