Strong defense powers Brewer by MCI

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BREWER – All through preseason, Brewer head coach Josh Emmett emphasized the importance of getting off to a good start. He saw that as the key to a successful season for a young team.

Good starts have been a rarity for the Witches going back at least a decade, but for the first time in at least five seasons, Brewer is 2-0.

The Class B Witches completed the Class C portion of their LTC schedule Friday night with an 18-0 victory over defending Eastern Maine champ Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield on a warm, comfortable night at Doyle Field.

“Goal accomplished, but we made a lot of mistakes,” Emmett said while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

The score could have been much more commanding, but 12 penalties for a total of 80 yards against Brewer kept either stalling the Witches’ offense or aiding MCI’s.

Fortunately for Brewer, its linebacking corps was more than equal to the task of keeping MCI’s 1-2 backfield punch of tall tailback Tom Twombly and bruising fullback Mike Broccio bottled up.

“We pretty much keyed on number 36 [Broccio] and 9 [Twombly,” said Brewer co-captain Ryan Hahl. “Wherever they went, we went.”

Broccio was held to seven yards on six carries. Twombly managed 77 yards of MCI’s 104 total rushing yards, but could never really get free for a huge gain until late.

“The reason we couldn’t move the ball was their two inside linebackers. It was nothing else,” said head coach Bill Cowan, whose Huskies are now 0-2. “Their line played well, but we couldn’t get our tackles down on the backers.”

Hahl, Chris Cote, Ben Lam and Eric Trask formed the second four in Brewer’s 4-4 defensive alignment, but it was Hahl and Cote who really distinguished themselves inside.

“We wanted to low tackle them and hit ’em hard. They’re talented, but they come down if you chop ’em,” Emmett said. “Physically, that team outsized us even though they’re Class C… and we’re small, but we’re leaner and faster.”

While MCI’s run game was stuck in neutral, Brewer’s was in drive most of the game as the Witches rolled up 236 yards on the ground. Cote led the way with 75 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries from the tailback position. Junior fullback Seth Emerson had a breakout game with 70 yards on six carries.

“We had a big improvement on offense this week with our blocking,” said Cote. “Our confidence is really up now.”

Brewer took a 6-0 lead early in the game after Cote capped a seven-play, 72-yard drive with a three-yard TD run with 7:59 to play in the first quarter. The Witches doubled their score in the second, thanks to a seven-play, 53-yard drive in which Cote gained 27 yards on two carries and caught an 11-yard pass. Josh Caldwell plowed through for a 4-yard TD run with 10:25 left in the half.

The only score of the second half came midway through the third quarter as Caldwell ended a five-play, 46-yard drive by dragging three defenders with him into the end zone for a 3-yard TD run.

Other defensive standouts in the game were MCI tackle Derek Saunders and Brewer lineman Matt Whalen.

Brewer 18, MCI 0

Maine Cent. Inst. (0-2) 0 0 0 0 ? 0

Brewer (2-0) 6 6 6 0 ? 18

B ? Cote 3 run (kick failed)

B ? Caldwell 4 run (pass failed)

B ? Caldwell 3 run (kick failed)

MCI Brewer

First downs 9 10

Rushing att.-yards 41-104 42-236

Passing comp.-att. 1-4 1-7

Passing yards 11 11

Total yards 115 247

Punts-avg. 5-30.4 4-36.0

Fumbles-lost 4-1 2-1

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 5-25 12-80

Rushing

MCI: Twombly 17-77, Quint 10-37, Broccio 6-7, Wintle 1-3, Williams 5-(-9), Bennett 2-(-11); Brewer: Cote 11-75, Emerson 6-70, Collins 12-57, Caldwell 10-40, Trask 1-6, Richter 1-0, Rancourt 1-(-12)

Passing

MCI: Bennett 1-4-1-11; Brewer: Collins 1-6-0-11

Receiving

MCI: Lasselle 1-11; Brewer: Cote 1-11

A?550 (est.)