TOPSHAM — The 2018 Mt. Ararat High School football team has faced several challenges so far this season.

From the sudden resignation of their head football coach prior to the opening game, to several contests that slipped away early, the Eagles entered Saturday’s home game at the Topsham Fairgrounds against fellow one-win Class B South team Westbrook looking for a spark.

Mt. Ararat found it, racking up 428 rushing yards in a dominating 44-22 victory over the Blue Blazes in rainy and cool conditions.

The backfield efforts of Eagles Riley Morin, Hunter Lohr and Cody Holman did the most damage. Morin rushed for 209 yards on 13 carries, while Lohr cut and dashed his way to an often spectacular 146 yards on 16 rushes. Holman ran the ball just five times, but gained 75 yards.

“They have different styles and bring different things to the table,” said Mt. Ararat co-coach Matt Haskell of his three running backs. “They keep the other team off-balance.”

Good start

After holding Westbrook one yard short of a first down on the opening drive of the game, Mt. Ararat quickly drove down the field. Morin picked up 20 yards on the first play, and Lohr dashed along the Eagle sideline for 32 more to the Westbrook 28-yard line. Two plays later from the 20, Lohr sprinted to the end zone. Morin ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

“The start was important, especially with the weather, knowing that we had to keep things on the ground,” said Haskell. “We did a good job getting pushes on the line.”

The Blue Blazes answered on their next play from scrimmage, with quarterback Devon Ezzy sprinting 70 yards to paydirt. Brayden Demers tied the game with the conversion.

But, there was no denying Mt. Ararat, which responded with a 56-yard march, with

Morin pulling away from the Westbrook defense on a 42-yard jaunt and a 16-8 lead.

The Eagles poured it on from there. Morin and Lohr added a second-quarter TD run apiece for a 30-8 halftime lead.

Defensively, Mt. Ararat did a solid job of stripping the football and pressuring Ezzy, with Morin recovering a pair of fumbles and a sack each coming from Kyle Secone, Holman and Jed Rice.

“The turnovers changed the whole momentum of the game,” said Morin, who rushed for 124 yards in the opening half.

The Eagles began the second half like they did the first, marching 70 yards eight plays, with the drive finished off by a Holman 14-yard TD run for a 36-8 lead.

Morin capped his big day early in the fourth, finding a lane and sprinting 77 yards to the end zone.

“Our line did a really good job, pulling everything, and everybody really pulled together today,” said Morin. “All season we have been able to get really good pushes up front, and today we clicked at the same time and got the win.”

Westbrook finished strong against Mt. Ararat reserves, with Ezzy throwing to Jaylen White for a 16-yard TD pass and running back Collin Allen finding the end zone on a 13-yard run to complete the scoring.

Ezzy paced the Blue Blazes with 192 yards rushing and a touchdown. He added 71 yards on 3-of-5 passing. Demers tacked on 63 tough rushing yards and hauled in a 42-yard pass in the first half.

Mt. Ararat finished with five sacks, with Secone accounting for two. The Eagles also forced four turnovers, including a fumble recovery by Daniel Jackson and an interception by Lohr. Dan Pratt picked up nine tackles, including a sack, while Holman and Morin had seven stops each.

Demers led the Westbrook defense with five tackles and a fumble recovery, while Dylan Burton also recovered a fumble.

Now, Mt. Ararat has a home date with Morse on Friday night (7 p.m.) under the lights at the Fairgrounds.

“We are excited for Senior Night under the lights. Morse is a spread team and we will have to make adjustments to slow them down,” Haskell said.

 

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