Bucksport rallies past FA Ponies

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DOVER-FOXCROFT – No matter what happened in the first 11 minutes of the second half of Friday night’s LTC Class C showdown, it’s important you know one thing.

Joel Sankey did not do anything magical to turn the fortunes of his Bucksport Golden Bucks, who had trailed Foxcroft Academy 14-3 at the break.

He didn’t give a rousing pep talk to make the Bucks score 21 third-quarter points and pave the way to a 24-14 win.

Nothing he did, Sankey said, was responsible for the opportunistic big-play show that was to follow … or the defensive display that continued.

“We didn’t change anything. Our game plan was to try to keep the ball out of their hands,” Sankey said. “Our defense had played well.”

That they had: Bucksport had held Foxcroft to 19 rushing yards in the first half, and ran for 166 of its own before intermission.

Still, thanks to two late Josh Withee passes – a 20-yarder that Josh Sands fielded off his hip and carried into the end zone with 4:23 to go and a 9-yarder that Danny White leapt for and corralled in the back of the end zone with 36 seconds to go – his Bucks trailed.

Not for long.

The Golden Bucks improved to 5-1 while the Ponies dropped to 4-2.

Bucksport silenced the Oakes Field crowd, and took control of the game, on three huge plays.

. Adam Rock set the tone for the quarter when he stepped in front of a Withee pass on the Ponies’ third play from scrimmage and scooted 37 yards for a touchdown. Trevor LaLonde’s first of three PAT kicks (he also nailed a 23-yard field goal) made it 14-10. Rock later picked off another Withee pass.

“He did a slant,” Rock said of the receiver. “It wasn’t really a three-step [drop], but he came up and stepped in front of me. The quarterback overthrew it and I was right there. Right time, right place.”

And after he caught the ball?

“All grass,” Rock said.

. After Bucksport forced a three-and-out series by the Ponies, the Bucks got right back to work, going from the FA-40 all the way to the 9 on six plays. Then senior speedster Warren Chase got involved.

“It was unbelievable,” Sankey said.

Here’s what “It” was: Chase took a toss that was designed to go around the right end, ran out of real estate – and ran into several eager-looking Ponies at the corner – then decided the left end looked much more appealing.

“I got to the right and then I saw 22 guys over there, so I said, ‘I’m going over back the other way.”‘ Chase said. “The other side was open, and I got a great block from Chris McHale.”

Chase scampered in and LaLonde’s PAT made it 17-14, Bucksport, with 5:34 to go in the third.

. Then, eight plays later, Chase capped the scoring when he gathered up a dropped FA option pitch at full-tilt and sprinted 36 yards for another score with 1:27 to go in the period.

“We came out and we knew that the first five minutes of the second half was going to determine who’s going to win,” Chase said. “And we came out and destroyed them. We scored quick and didn’t look back from there.”

Thanks to several tackles for losses, the Bucks ended up giving up six yards of rushing offense to the Ponies. They amassed 256 of their own.

Sophomore Chris Woodman accounted for 72 yards on nine carries while Rustin Ames had 63 on 14. Chase (56 yards) and fullback Phil Harvey were also productive.

Sankey was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We’re not bad,” Sankey said, mouthing the understatement of the night. “We’ve been kind of in the shadow of everyone else, but we’re not bad.”

GOLDEN BUCKS 24, PONIES 14

Bucksport (5-1) 0 3 21 0?24

Foxcroft (4-2) 0 14 0 0?14

B?LaLonde 23 field goal

FA?Sands 20 pass from Withee (White kick)

FA?White 9 pass from Withee (White kick)

B?Rock 37 interception return (LaLonde kick)

B?Chase 9 run (LaLonde kick)

B?Chase 36 fumble recovery (LaLonde kick)

Bucksport Foxcroft

First downs 10 9

Rushing att.-yards 52-256 28-6

Passing comp.-att. 0-0 6-14

Passing yards 0 94

Total yards 256 100

Punts-avg. 4-23.3 4-30.8

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 12-104 1-5

Rushing

Bucksport: Chase 13-56, Woodman 9-72, Harvey 10-53, Ames 14-63, McHale 6-12; Foxcroft: Sands 7-23, White 8-15, Withee 3-(-39), Morong 10-7

Passing

Bucksport: McHale 0-2 0-0; Foxcroft: Withee 6-14-2-94

Receiving

Bucksport: none; Foxcroft: White 3-73, Sands 2-27, Withee 1-(-6)