Tucker Buzzell | McClelland Miscellanea

Fryeburg’s Isaak McKenney with blocker Reese Kneissler

Cal Southwick (20) sacks Mt. Ararat quarterback Nolan Blessington in the first quarter

(Fryeburg ME) Anytime a team causes the adjusted timing rule to kick in, they’re having a good day.

And that was the way it was for Fryeburg Academy as they overwhelmed Mt. Ararat, 49-7, on a sunny/warm Saturday afternoon.

“Any time you can have balance like we did today, it puts defenses in a difficult situation,” said Coach Dave Turner afterwards.

The 1-2 Eagles struggled on both sides of the ball. Blame it on the 70-0 trouncing by Kennebunk last week? “There was no carryover from that loss,” according to Co-Head Coach Matt Haskell. “We had a good week of practice.”

The Class C South Raiders (2-1) did almost everything right all afternoon. Very noticeable was their hole-opening and pass protecting.

Nate Knapp escapes the final Eagles tackler

That protection gave FA quarterback Oscar Saunders time to beat Mt. Ararat defenders deep twice in the first quarter. Senior Nate Knapp was on the receiving end of both scores.

In the second quarter that good blocking keyed a persistent ground game that led to rushing scores by Cal Southwick and QB Oscar Saunders.

A wonderful half of offense and shut-down defense gave the home team a 27-0 halftime advantage.

“They had two big plays over the top at the beginning,” recalled Coach Haskell. “We were in a zone and they had time to get behind our defenders.”

The Class B South Eagles didn’t make it any easier on themselves by contributing two first-half turnovers. Raiders Dawson Jones (interception) and Jack Campbell (fumble recovery) capitalized for Fryeburg.

Quarterback Oscar Saunders had plenty of time behind blockers Kempton Maillett (55) and Josh Frye (73)

“We were after a certain matchup on the two passing touchdowns and we got them,” remembered Coach Turner. “We had very good pass protection on both plays.”

The adjusted timing rule was activated late in the third quarter. It goes into effect when a team gets down by 35 points in the second half. The clock only stops thereafter on timeouts, injuries, penalties, and scores.

A two-yard plunge (Cal Southwick) and extra point (Eddie Thurston) made it 34-0. Later in the 3^rd period Liam Harriman intercepted a Nolan Blessington pass and then he was rewarded with a two-yard carry to the end zone.

Austin Damon tallied the Eagles touchdown in the final quarter

Now up, 41-0, the timing rule was activated. Believe me, things started moving a lot faster for the rest of that quarter.

However, in the first minute of the final quarter Mt. Ararat QB Nolan Blessington connected with senior Austin Damon and suddenly the score was 41-7. That deactivated the timing rule.

Next series senior Liam Chisari zigged and zagged his way past would-be Eagles tacklers to boost FA back to the timing rule range, 49-7, with 9 ½ minutes left. That turned out to be the final score.

Coach Matt Haskell: “Fryeburg really limited our offense. They absolutely shut down the outside. They applied good pressure on defense. They changed the looks of where they were coming from and even when we had time their coverage was good.”

Liam Chisari dodged several Eagles on his way to a score

I asked Coach Haskell about how the Co-Head Coach thing had come about and how it was working. “The head coach resigned the second week of preseason. On an interim basis, the offensive coordinator and the defensive coordinator are running the team together. I think it’s working out okay.”

The team from Topsham was 5-11 over the past two seasons.

Some sort of serious situation on Route 302 today. Coming from Bridgton on that route I was detoured into Lovell at Shawnee Peak. Later, during the end of the football game, two Fryeburg rescue vehicles went by the football field with sirens on. Life isn’t all fun and games!

Sophomore Eddie Thurston kicked four extra points. His first try was blocked by Austin Damon.

Nice crowd on hand. Plenty of sun for everyone!

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Nate Knapp beats Hunter Lohr for the first FA touchdown

Liam Chisari scores with Kyle Graffam hanging on

Relaxed atmosphere along the FA sidelines

Eddie Thurston (65) kicked four extra points

Dawson Jones returns an interception

Junior Cal Southwick

Cal Southwick uses a block by Dawson Jones

Cal Southwick scored twice

Cal Southwick (20) escapes Austin Damon (34)

Tucker Buzzell (50)led an excellent Raiders defense today.

Reese Kneissler (51) is part of the pressure on QB Nolan Blessington

Oscar Saunders grabs a face mask.

Oscar Saunders (11) find a huge hole

Isaiah Thompson (28) scored three times for Lisbon

Lisbon, led by QB Lucas Francis, had a three-touchdown lead early in the second half

(Fryeburg ME) Momentum can change.

And it sure did on a sunny afternoon/evening of Friday high school football.

The visiting Lisbon Greyhounds had, what appeared to be, a comfortable 22-0 lead over the home Fryeburg Academy Raiders two minutes into the second half.

“The kids played hard the whole game,” recalled FA coach Dave Turner afterwards.

It was his team’s defense that put the brakes on the Lisbon domination. In two straight second-half possessions the Raiders’ defense created fumbles by Lisbon quarterback Lucas Francis. Those cough-ups led directly and then indirectly to Fryeburg scores.

Tucker Buzzell (50) returned a fumble for a touchdown

It was an ugly three minutes of football for the visitors, as the D3 South Raiders were now only down, 22-14, with 1:40 left in the third quarter.

Momentum, however, is a funny thing. It can come, and it can go. And that’s what happened.

“They got some momentum in the second half,” said Lisbon coach Chris Kates, “but we were able to get it back.”

On the Greyhounds next possession, after consecutive FA scores, senior Isaiah Thompson (3 touchdowns) struck from midfield. Isaiah started right and then cut back into the middle. He found a ton of daylight and scored as he looked around for FA pursuit.

The D4 South team from Lisbon Falls had a two-touchdown lead back (28-14) early in the final quarter and finished strong.

Lucas Francis threw for a touchdown and ran for another one.

Quarterback Lucas Francis (Sun Journal Player-of-Year last season) added a touchdown and a 2-point rush to close the scoring.

“I think that our conditioning helped,” said Lucas after the game. “We didn’t take any days off. (Some schools cancelled practices because of the heat.) We were in full pads every day.”

Coach Kates also referenced his team’s conditioning: “Out conditioning enabled us to be physical up front against a strong FA defensive front. We opened some big holes for our backs.” (Several of my pictures reveal the size of the running room that Lucas and Isaiah found on occasion.)

Fryeburg coach Dave Turner faulted his team’s execution for the loss. “We made way too many mistakes. We missed open guys and we had a lot of turnovers.”

Isaiah Thompson finds an open field ahead

Coach Turner said that the Lisbon secondary played a key role in the loss. “We had receivers open, but their defensive backs were very fast to the ball.”

That poor execution Coach Turner referred to bit FA early. In the middle of a scoreless first quarter, Raiders wide receiver Nathan Knapp got behind the Lisbon defense. Quarterback Oscar Saunders hit the senior in stride and in Nathan went for a touchdown. Not so fast! Nathan had lined up incorrectly and instead of six points the Raiders were assessed a five-yard penalty.

Nathan Knapp turned defender three minutes into the second quarter and intercepted a pass intended for Isaac Burnell on the FA 5.

Robbie Dick holds up an interception.

Unable to get anywhere, FA was forced to punt, and a nice Daytona McIver runback set up Lisbon on the FA 29. Several plays later Isaiah Thompson tore off right tackle 20 yards to the end zone. QB Lucas Francis rushed right for 2-points.

On Fryeburg’s next possession, tall and talented Hunter Job intercepted a pass. An immediate strike by Lisbon followed. Junior Robbie Dick ran under a beautifully thrown pass by Lucas to score. Fittingly the 2-point conversion was another connection between Lucas and Robbie. The visitors had vaulted to a 16-0 lead in the first half.

The Lisbon momentum carried into the second half. Another interception (Colin Houle) set the Greyhounds up in Fryeburg territory. Isaiah quickly followed strong blocking for a 36-yard score. The rush failed but Lisbon was in charge, 22-0, two minutes into the second half.

Calvin Southwick tackled by Lucas Francis

However, two Lisbon fumbles later, FA was back in the game. Linebacker Tucker Buzzell picked up a fumble and went fifty yards to the EZ. Later it was teammate Jack Campbell making a recovery that led eventually to QB Oscar Saunders’ 3-yard score. Eddie Thurston kicked both extra points. We now had ourselves a ballgame! But not for long.

Isaiah Thompson took Lisbon’s next possession in for a score to break the momentum. The Lisbon defense, especially the secondary, kept the home team contained.

A final TD by Lucas Francis finished off the Raiders.

This was the opener for both teams.

Lucas Francis swarmed by the FA defense

Lisbon was 7-2 last season. “This was the first time we’ve played a Class C team since we moved to Class D,” explained Lucas. “It feels good to take down a contender from that division.”

Coach Turner was disappointed with the loss but was also optimistic about the future: “We executed poorly but we played hard. The execution can be remedied with practice. When we play well, we’re a pretty good team.”

FA captain Tucker Buzzell was impressive. Coach Turner called him, “relentless.” Tucker ran a fumble back for a touchdown to turn the momentum FA’s way. In the second half, he kicked off and then made a touchdown-preventing tackle on that play.

Jaycob Lindgren (11) returns a kickoff

I always imagine high school games being quick. No TV timeouts and the other delays we tolerate with televised games. This, however, turned into a long game time-wise. Halftime was twenty minutes long. There were “water break” timeouts and there were plenty of clock-stopping passes. It took as long as an NFL game! But I whine!

Good crowd considering the 3-day weekend ahead.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering why a game held on Friday doesn’t get coverage until Monday night. One of my problems was the pictures I took. I had all sorts of trouble getting them set up for a blog entry. Days and hours later I think I’ve figured things out. I also like to wait until someone with actual stats does a story so that I can use some numbers to back things up. Google revealed nothing but the score. The Bridgton News story won’t be out until Thursday.

(All of the pictures above and below should enlarge if you click on them.)