WINTHROP — Turnovers and a Winthrop/Monmouth touchdown just before the end of the first half put Old Orchard Beach in a foul mood at halftime of Friday night’s Western Class D football game at Maxwell Field.
The Seagulls vented in the second half, regaining the lead two plays into the third quarter and dominating the rest of the way for a 27-8 win.
Senior quarterback Bryan Roberts ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and the Seagulls shut down the depleted Ramblers in the second half.
“We were frustrated,” said Roberts, who rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries and completed 5 of 9 passes for 46 yards. “We dominated that first half. Then they just hit us with a home run play. But second half, we capitalized. We dominated the whole second half.”
Old Orchard Beach (2-0) outgained Winthrop/Monmouth 167-76 in the second half, collecting 10 first downs to the Ramblers’ 5. Most of the Ramblers’ yardage came on their final drive, which ended on downs.
“We stepped up on defense,” Roberts said. “Preseason, we were worried a little bit. We had a few weak spots that we worked a lot on in practice. First week against Traip we stepped up. This game we stepped up. We’ve only allowed one touchdown both games.”
Winthrop/Monmouth (0-2) went into halftime with momentum after Matt Ingram recovered a muffed punt at the Seagulls 21 with 1:26 left in the first half. On fourth-and-goal from the 15 with 6 seconds to go. Ingram threw to Dakota Carter (seven catches, 96 yards) on a fade route in the right corner. Zack Phinney ran in the 2-point conversion, giving the Ramblers an 8-7 lead.
“We should have been up two or three scores at half and we were down a point,” said OOB Coach Dean Plante. “We were brutally honest (at halftime), and it’s the second week in a row our kids came out in the second half, took the first drive and made a statement.”
It was a quick statement, as a 33-yard run by Andrew Graves put OOB back in front. Roberts’ 2-point pass to Zach Hirst made it 15-8.
OOB marched 61 yards on its next series, and Roberts scored from the 9.
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