SACO — The last time the Sanford football team traveled to Thornton Academy, the visiting Spartans would walk away on the wrong side of a 48-0 score — but they also left Saco knowing they played probably their worst game of the year.
“The biggest thing that we learned is we just did not play clean football at the beginning of that game. We had penalties. We had a couple turnovers. We had dropped passes,” said Sanford coach Mike Fallon on his team’s last visit to TA.
The No. 4 Spartans will have a chance for some revenge on Saturday afternoon when they return to Saco to take on the top-seeded Golden Trojans in a Class A South semifinal showdown.
“It’s just one of those situations where we’ve emphasized to the kids all week long that we have to play cleaner — and especially early on in the game because they are obviously a very, very good team,” said Fallon. “They are extremely well coached, very stingy defensively so you’ve got to earn it. It’s kind of like eating a sandwich. You have to take small bites, make sure you chew and eventually you eat the whole sandwich and you can’t afford to make any mistakes along the way.”
The Spartans enter the game at 6-3 and their only losses have come at the hands of the top three seeds in the region — No. 2 Scarborough and No. 3 Bonny Eagle are the others.
Senior Doug Johnson believes the Spartans are ready for the challenge on Saturday.
“We are going into it with a high confidence level. I know for our seniors we’ve (never beaten Thornton Academy) yet in our whole career, so I think this is a good opportunity to get them,” said Johnson, who is a starting guard and defensive end.
The Spartans are certainly embracing the underdog role — and they are hoping the Trojans will enter the contest thinking it’s going to be a cakewalk.
“I think they are going to come in a little more cocky than they should and we might be able to get the jump on them,” said Johnson.
This Sanford squad will also enter Saturday’s contest with revenge on their minds.
“I feel like we’re playing this as kind of a revenge game because they didn’t really see us how we actually are,” said senior James Meggison.
If they are going to avenge their regular-season loss, the Spartans will need to slow down the high-powered TA offense — which can beat teams with a power run game or with speed on the outside.
“That’s part of what makes them really good is you’ve got to sort of pick your poison,” said Fallon of the Trojans’ offense.
Last time these two teams met, the Spartans pretty much held TA standout Anthony Bracamonte in check — other than a TD catch late in the first half — but junior running back Isaac Ofielu ran for three second-half touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
“I think their power game is probably their best play against us. Last game we shut down Bracamonte pretty good. We just didn’t read their power well and we need to have our linebackers stepping up harder and our (defensive ends) crashing down a little harder to stop that power,” said Johnson.
Fallon agreed with his senior defensive end.
“We did a pretty good job of not letting Bracamonte (hurt us) on special teams. He did hit us on a seam ball for a touchdown, but generally we were OK there. But they ran their power run game and we didn’t have great answers for that,” Fallon said.
Meggison believes the key on both sides of the ball for the Spartans will be leaving it all on the field on Saturday.
“I think since the last time we played TA (we’ve learned) that we have to put the effort in. We’ve been working on effort mostly and just staying on blocks and playing 100 percent through the play,” Meggison said.
Meggison also believes the Spartans can match up with TA better than any other team in the region.
“They are big and they are quick, but we feel like we have better athletes than them and we can match up (with TA) better than other teams can. If we just bring our athleticism and bring our effort I feel like we can pull it out,” said Meggison, a starting fullback and middle linebacker for the Spartans.
One thing that should help the Spartans when they take on TA this weekend is the strong connection between this year’s squad.
“Definitely the bond that all of us have,” said Johnson on what sets this year’s team apart from previous seasons. “I’m a lot closer with these guys than any one of us have been the last three years that I’ve been starting here. We’re definitely close … we’re a brotherhood.”
Fallon and the Spartans know that their athleticism and strong team bond will only take them so far — they need to step up and play their best game of the season on Saturday afternoon.
“There has been good energy this week. Our kids are bright enough to know that we’re going over there to face the best team in the league and it’s going to take a monumental effort,” said Fallon. “We’ve got to try to play as perfect as we can possibly play and play with more intensity.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 780-9017. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.