WESTBROOK – It was a sluggish, sloppy start for the Kennebunk football team Friday night.
It didn’t take the Rams long to wake up, however, and once they got started, they didn’t stop.
Austin West ran 14 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns to lead a balanced rushing attack, and Kennebunk improved to 3-0 under new coach Keith Noel with a 35-0 victory over Westbrook.
The Blue Blazes fell to 1-2.
“The team’s rolling, we’ve got the wheels going,” West said. “We’ve definitely got some things to work on, but I think we’re headed on the right track right now.”
At the start, however, missed opportunities were the story for the Rams. Kennebunk marched to the Westbrook 21-yard line on its first series before a Dimitri Lubin interception ended the drive. West fumbled the ball at the Westbrook 38 on the next possession.
Kennebunk started finishing its drives from there, scoring on three of its next four possessions. Maddox Ralls had a 4-yard touchdown run, Gray Compton found Jonathan Hines for a 24-yard score on a play-action pass, and West had a 6-yard touchdown run two drives later for a 21-0 lead with 1:33 left in the second quarter.
A West 3-yard run and 4-yard run by Compton in the second half rounded out the scoring.
“You’ve got to keep working. Obviously, mistakes are going to happen. Picks are going to happen. Fumbles are going to happen,” West said. “There’s still plenty of game left. Keep rolling.”
There was no stopping the Kennebunk ground game. In addition to West’s performance, Ralls had 10 carries for 66 yards and Moose Keys ran five times for 53.
“We pound the ball anywhere, and we’ll get yards,” West said. “(We’re) a bunch of hard runners, Moose makes moves, Max is a hard runner. I think we’re all great running backs.”
West praised the work of the offensive line in getting the ground game going. Kennebunk runners often got around the ends cleanly, especially on the left side.
“O-line is where it starts,” West said. “They’re dogs down there in the trenches.”
It was the same story on defense, where Kennebunk’s defensive line, led by Gabe Jewett and Owen Bourque, held Westbrook’s leading rusher Gavin Tanner to 28 yards on 13 carries.
“They’ve done a really good job all season long, plugging down that middle, which you want from two senior players,” Noel said. “They’re making it tough for teams to move the ball. … They’re kind of the unsung heroes.”
Westbrook Coach Sam Johnson said the Blue Blazes had some success early, but couldn’t maintain it.
“I thought we generated a little push up front, we were able to get some runs going in the first half,” he said. “We got down a couple of scores, that forces your hand a little bit. … It’s tough when you can’t generate a ton of momentum offensively.”
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