Brunswick High football players kneel in the end zone before their game against Skowhegan on Friday night. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
The Brunswick High School football team resumed its season Friday night in Skowhegan after its Sept. 24 game was canceled as a result of a hazing investigation.
While the Dragons fell 61-14 to the River Hawks, acting coach Nate Brunette said he saw some some positives.
“We played some good hard-nosed football and responded well to the adversity,” said Brunette, who coached in his first career varsity game. “It was a little nerve-racking (to coach) at first, but football is football. It’s essentially the same as a JV game with managing your players, except it was under the lights.”
Brunswick schools Superintendent Phillip Potenziano placed head coach Dan Cooper on leave as a result of the investigation.
On Monday, the Brunswick junior varsity team hosted Skowhegan. Brunswick players were seen at practice going through a walkthrough ahead of the game . The varsity team did not practice.
“Obviously we weren’t as prepared (on Friday) as we would’ve liked with fewer days to prepare,” said Brunette. “I think the JV reps will help our role players. We have a pretty good plan this week and we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”
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Nikolas Nikitin-Gruntfest of Lisbon (52) and teammate Owen Smith look to tackle Tony Casale of Freeport (21) during a football game Sept. 25 at Lisbon High School. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
Freeport (3-1) is planning to resume activities later this week after its game against Poland last week was called off.
“We’re planning on our varsity players being back from quarantine on Wednesday,” said Freeport head coach Paul St. Pierre in a text message. “We’re planning to be able to play Friday at Bucksport.”
After the Falcons improved to 3-1 on Sept. 25 in a road win over Lisbon (0-3), close contacts along with injuries forced Freeport to call off its homecoming game against Poland. Lisbon also had to cancel its game with Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale this past weekend due to COVID-19 issues.
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Mt. Ararat junior running back Shea Farrell looks for room to run behind lead blocker Kaiden Getchell during a game against Cheverus on Friday in Topsham. Photo provided by Jason Eggleston
Mt. Ararat (4-1) will look to bounce back after suffering its first loss of the season, a 44-32 setback to Cheverus (4-0) on Friday. Despite scoring 32 points in the first half, the Eagles struggled in the second. They were held off the scoreboard and mustered only 53 yards of total offense in the second half.
“It was a disappointing outcome but that was a great team we lost to,” said Mt. Ararat coach True. “It was a learning experience that we’ll build from and move past as a team.”
The Eagles were once again paced by Shea Farrell, who rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He had six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown while forcing two fumbles on defense. Running mate Kaiden Getchell rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m proud of the way we played and adjusted to the adjustments,” said True. “We have nothing to hang our heads about, but we also have some things that we need to fix.”
The Eagles hope the loss to Cheverus sets up a similar run they enjoyed in the 2019 state championship season. After losing to Maranacook twice in the regular season, the Eagles dominated the Black Bears 36-14 in Readfield in the regional final en route to their first state championship in program history. Mt. Ararat will potentially have to do the same this season, only this time a playoff meeting against Cheverus would be in Portland.
“We’ll just look to take care of business coming up,” added True. “Hopefully, we’ll see them (Cheverus) again.”
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Morse defenders surround the ball and make a tackle on the Mattanawcook ball-carrier during a Sept. 3 game at McMann Field in Bath. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
Morse (4-1) continued its winning ways on Saturday afternoon in a convincing 56-8 victory over Ellsworth/Sumner in the Shipbuilders’ homecoming game.
“What a great day that was, the energy from the fans was at a high level,” said Morse head coach Jason Darling. “The players were lucky to participate in an event that took place like Saturday’s.”
Quarterback Josh ter Mors paced the offense with four touchdowns — two through the air and two on the ground. He finished with 104 passing yards passing with two touchdowns, to go along with 40 yards on the ground and two more scores. Ben Doughty had 124 yards on the ground on 10 carries while Gabe Aucoin added 167 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
With a rematch with Camden Hills up next, Darling is hoping this time around will be different from the Sept. 11 game scheduled on the fly. The Windjammers won 60-42.
“We had no time to prepare for them (Camden Hills) last time we met,” said Darling. “This will be a good test to see where we’re at and how much we’ve improved over the last month or so.”
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