Special teams paved the way to a championship ending for Scarborough High’s special football season.
From the time Jeremy Sendrowski returned the opening kickoff 53 yards to set up the first of five Owen Garrard touchdowns, the Red Storm were rolling on the way to their first Class A title Saturday, routing Windham 57-0 at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“I don’t get the ball very much, so when I do, I want to make a difference in the game,” Sendrowski said.
It was the largest margin of victory in a state championship game, surpassing Winslow 55-0 win over Wells for the Class B title in 1993.
“Really? Oh my god. So this is the largest margin? That’s awesome. I can’t believe it,” said Scarborough quarterback Zoltan Panyi, who completed 7 of 9 passes for 125 yards and rushed for a game-high 138 yards.
Scarborough returned most of its starters from the 2016 team that reached the South final, and the Red Storm entered this season with high hopes.
They completed their 10-1 season in dominating fashion. The offense needed only 40 plays to gain 422 yards and become the second team to crack 50 points in a Class A title game. The defense posted the 11th shutout in Class A championship game history and held Windham (7-5) to 159 yards.
Scarborough went in as a big favorite, having beaten Windham 66-7 in the regular season.
Windham’s two trips inside the Scarborough 20 ended in turnovers. Nathan Mars recovered a Tanner Bernier fumble at the 8 in the second quarter, and Tyler Gobiel intercepted a Bernier pass in the end zone in the third quarter. Sendrowski also had a third-quarter interception.
“We were just trying to have a great game,” said senior center Ben Hughes. “This was my last game, a lot of the guys’ last game, and we were just trying to play as hard as possible, every snap. And that translated into 57 points.”
And then there was Scarborough’s superiority on special teams.
Windham’s first punt was returned 55 yards to the 10 by Jarett Flaker, who was sprung by a Cody Dudley block. Garrard scored from the 9, bouncing outside when the hole on the left side was stuffed.
Windham’s next drive ended when punter Hunter Coffin pulled down a high snap and tried to run on fourth-and-13, coming up six yards shy of a first down. Three plays later, Flaker raced around right end and got to the pylon, and Liam McDonnell added another PAT for a 21-0 lead with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
Flaker (two punt returns) and Sendrowski (one kick, one punt) combined for 169 return yards.
“That was a killer,” said Windham Coach Matt Perkins. “With a team like that, the last thing you want to do is give them the ball inside your own 40, and we did that a couple times and it hurt us.”
Coffin’s next punt went five yards. With good field position again at the Windham 41, Scarborough needed just seven plays to score, with Garrard going in from the 2. Sendrowski bobbled the hold on the conversion, but he sprinted around left end for two points and a 29-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Garrard’s fourth score was a 3-yard catch from Panyi with 11 seconds left in the half, as the Red Storm raced 73 yards in 38 seconds on five straight Panyi completions. That pushed the margin over the 35-point running-time threshold for the second half.
Dudley had three catches on the drive, including going up high to snare a deep ball for a 42-yard gain to the 3.
The entire second half was played with running time.
“At the end of the first half, when we got to throw I was just ecstatic. I was so excited. I was like, ‘Thanks, Coach,'” Panyi said. “We wanted to get running time, to make it easier on us.”
Panyi had second-half touchdown runs of 52 and 59 yards, and Garrard added another 3 yard run for his fifth score.
“It was a huge team effort,” Garrard said. “We play for each other, and we know if we do that, we can be successful.”
“My expectations were high, but these kids really exceeded them,” said Scarborough Coach Lance Johnson. “They’re just such good kids. They work hard. They work hard in the offseason, and you add talent to the hard work and the intellect, you end up with the season we had this year.”
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