Brunswick High School football coach Dan Cooper probably doesn’t remember all of the players that have stood around him throughout his career leading the Dragons.
However, there are those memorable moments, and on Friday night against Brewer in his team’s Class B North quarterfinal contest, his top-seeded Dragons provided Cooper’s 100th career coaching win with a 47-0 victory.
Brunswick, which will face No. 5 Skowhegan next Friday night in a rematch of the Dragons’ 48-7 win in the season opener at Bowdoin College’s Whittier Field, withstood a determined Brewer squad, which two weeks earlier fell behind 42-0 in the first half in a 56-18 loss to the Dragons. The Witches controlled the football in the first half, with their time of possession exceeding 14 minutes. However, some of that came courtesy of Brunswick’s quick-strike offense, which produced a 27-0 halftime lead.
“We really haven’t been tested like that all season,” said Cooper of the Witches. “We knew Brewer would come down here and play smash-mouth football, so that wasn’t shocking. I am glad our boys made a red-zone stop, then we turned it into points at the end of the half.”
The 100th win for Cooper wasn’t lost on his players.
“Coach has been my coach for three years, and I am so glad he got his 100th win tonight. He deserves it,” said Brunswick senior linebacker Jack Harvey, who led the Dragon defense with 12 tackles. “Our defense has been locked down all season. We knew Brewer would give it their all, and they did that. We were able to take it to them.”
“We have had a lot of special groups, but I will remember this one for a long time,” said Cooper of his milestone.
Dragons strike
Brewer received the kickoff to begin the game and went three-and-out. A nice punt backed the Dragons up to their own six-yard line.
Brunswick’s offense didn’t blink, as running back Mitch Lienert galloped 39 yards on his team’s first play. Four plays later, the senior was in the end zone for a quick 6-0 lead.
“I didn’t play them the first time, so I just wanted to make sure they know that number seven is still around,” said Lienert, who rushed for 94 yards on just three carries in the first quarter.
Brewer’s offense made some noise, holding the ball for over five minutes and advancing as far as the Brunswick 36-yard line. But a sack by Treyvon McKenzie forced a second Witches punt.
Again the Dragons began a drive from deep in their own territory. Starting from its 12-yard line, Brunswick moved swiftly down the field. On the first play of the second quarter, Owen Richardson was provided a big hole by his offensive line and sprinted 25 yards to the end zone. Cam Folsom’s extra-point kick made for a 13-0 contest.
“Our offensive line works so hard at practice. They are grinding every second, every minute. They are performing at a high level,” Lienert said.
The Dragons upped their lead to 20-0 with 4:39 left until halftime, this time with Cam Hathaway scoring on a 7-yard run.
The Witches put together their best drive of the half, moving from their own 35-yard line to the Brunswick 16. The Dragon defense came through again as Chandler Coombs intercepted a Justin Nutter pass in the end zone with 42 seconds on the clock.
The Dragons chose to not take a knee. On second down from the 28-yard line, Cody Larson cut and gashed his way through nearly every inch of the field on his way to pay dirt. His 72-yard TD run on the final play of the first half gave Brunswick a 27-0 halftime lead.
After totaling 294 yards on the ground in the first half, Brunswick set out to put the game away in the third quarter. Coombs returned the second-half kickoff 47 yards, and Richardson went 43 yards on the next play for a 33-0 Dragon lead.
Later in the third, Richardson completed his 134-yard evening with a 29-yard TD run for a 39-0 advantage heading to the fourth.
“They focused, and we were more poised in the second half, and it showed,” Cooper said.
The Brunswick reserves took over from there, with Dalton Cooper capping the night with a 12-yard run to the end zone to finish off the 47-0 Dragon victory.
Lienert carried the ball just seven times, but picked up 120 yards, while Larson (three rushes, 80 yards) chipped in as Brunswick produced 425 rushing yards on 31 carries.
Nutter was solid throwing the ball for Brewer, completing 5-of-8 passes for 48 yards. Cameron Hughes hauled in two receptions totaling 19 yards. On the ground, Anthony Chiappone led the Witches with 26 yards on nine carries.
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