Deering 48
Westbrook 12
It was a tough way to return home for the Westbrook Blue Blazes.
Riding a high after knocking off the Portland Bulldogs the week before, the Blazes struggled in their home opener against Deering on Sept. 7.
On an unseasonably hot night that felt more like baseball weather rather than football weather, Deering and Westbrook traded punts in the game’s initial possessions before Westbrook mounted a scoring threat with about five minutes left in the first.
Quarterback Brian Doyle hit senior receiver Dominic DiBiase on a crossing route for a 30-yard gain, and it appeared the Blazes were on a roll. However, just two plays later, Doyle was intercepted by Deering’s Tim Conley and the Rams took over at Westbrook’s 47.
A 38-yard keeper by quarterback Regan Flaherty brought the ball to the Blazes’ four, and Peter Olsen punched it in on the next play to give Deering a 7-0 lead.
As the first quarter drew to a close, the Rams picked off Doyle again, and the turnover resulted in another Olsen touchdown. The Blazes’ struggles continued after a third interception set up a 24-yard touchdown pass from Flaherty to Brad Shafran to make it 19-0 with 8:21 left in the first half.
Westbrook got the home fans back into the game with 1:29 left in the first quarter when Ollie Steele picked off Flaherty and took the ball to the Rams’ 40. The officials then tacked on another 15 yards for a personal foul on the Rams and the Blazes had the ball inside Deering’s 25. However, the Blazes were unable to capitalize on the turnover and the drive stalled when Westbrook was unable to convert a fourth-and-nine from Deering’s 20.
The teams went into halftime with the Deering in the lead 19-6. Coming out for the second half, Westbrook showed it wasn’t going to quit, mounting a seven-play drive that began from the Blazes’ 25. Doyle had several big rushes on the drive, including a 32-yard gain and a 28-yard touchdown run to make the score 19-6 with 8:28 left in the third.
Just over two minutes later, Deering answered with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Flaherty to Shafran to make the score 27-6. Deering added another Olsen touchdown with 2:50 left in the third to make the score 33-6 in favor of the Rams.
Despite the large deficit, the Blazes continued to fight.
After a Deering personal foul on the kick return gave the Blazes the ball on their own 38, Joel Chadbourne smashed through the Rams’ line for a 22-yard gain that was improved by a 15-yard face mask penalty tacked on to the end of the run.
Two plays later, after a penalty and a sack moved Westbrook back to the Rams’ 41, Westbrook hit paydirt.
With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Doyle, under pressure from the Deering rush, lofted a pass to Dan Roukey. Roukey made a nice play on the ball and spun around the Deering defender and into the end zone to make the score 33-12 in favor of Deering.
Deering added one more Olsen touchdown in the fourth to make the final score 48-12.
This week, Westbrook will look to get back to its winning ways with a 12:30 p.m. game against Cheverus on Saturday. Cheverus comes into the game 0-2 with losses to Bonny Eagle and South Portland.
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