West stars blank East> South Portland’s Dibiase stars

BIDDEFORD – South Portland High’s Matt Dibiase ran for 92 yards on 19 carries in the second half and scored a touchdown on a one-yard run as the West All-Stars earned a 6-0 victory in the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic at Waterhouse Field Friday night.

The six total points was the lowest in the game’s 11-year history. The previous low was a 10-0 West victory in 1996. The West has won 10 of the past 11 Shrine games.

Dibiase, who said he will play on a football scholarship at the University of Maine this fall, was awarded the West Most Valuable Player award for his efforts.

Dibiase’s TD run came with 4:54 left in the first quarter. The West started out at its own 48-yard-line and were powered by runs from Fitzpatrick Award winner Kevin Bougie of Sanford and Wells’ Brandon Caston. But Dibiase credited his offensive line on the TD effort.

“The offensive line really pushed the defensive line,” he said. “I just saw the hole and I went through.”

Dibiase rushed for a whopping 214 yards on 34 carries, while Bougie racked up 56 yards on 16 carries.

Despite all the ground offense from the West, the East managed to stop the opposition with interceptions, but both teams hurt themselves with penalties.

“I thought it was a great effort all-around,” East head coach Tom Whitney said. “We had a couple of goal-line stands and we really stuffed them.”

The East tried to make a comeback in the final three minutes. Starting at the East-8, Cony quarterback B.L. Lippert took to the air. On third-and-10, he completed a nine-yard pass to Rob Skillings of Belfast, and on the next play quarterback B.J. Birtz of Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln ran nine yards for a first down.

The drive stalled at the East-28 but the East recovered a West fumble with 16 seconds left.

Lippert hit MA’s Nate Thibodeau for two passes and then connected with Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield’s Steve Allen to get to the East-44. But time ran out.

“We were finally hitting the right guys, but it went so quickly,” Lippert said.

Skillings was key in a run that started in the third quarter and lasted into the fourth. The East had its worst field position of the game, starting on its own five. Skillings carried the ball eight times for 38 yards before Winslow’s Pat Bard recovered an East fumble near the 50-yard line. But Bard lost two yards on the play, which brought up fourth down with seven yards to go and the East was forced to punt.

Lippert completed three of his six pass attempts for 58 yards in the first half. David Marshall of Morse in Bath was the top East rusher with 35 yards.

Gardiner defensive back Vin Lavallee won the MVP award for the East.

Skillings said the week of intense practice was worth the effort, and side trips to Funtown in Saco and the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Springfield, Mass., made the Shrine Bowl experience all the more valuable.

“At first I was worried because you’re rooming with all these guys you compete against in the regular league,” he said. “But everybody was really nice. There’s no cocky guys or anything. It was really fun.”

All of the net proceeds of the game go to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.