Winslow crushes Belfast

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BELFAST – Going into Friday night’s LTC Class B showdown with fellow unbeaten Belfast, Winslow’s Black Raiders were the top-ranked passing team in the LTC and very young in their offensive line. By contrast, the Lions had done it on the ground with LTC leading rusher Jeff Parenteau behind a veteran line with four seniors.

So much for tendencies and scouting reports. The Raiders came into Belfast and dominated the game with 310 rushing yards en route to an emphatic 33-12 victory on a clear and comfortable night at a fan-packed field.

More than 2,000 fans jammed the stands, both sidelines, and one end zone after clogging every conceivable parking space on, around, and away from Belfast High School to see a Winslow line with two seniors and three sophomores come of age.

Senior tailback Ricky Vigue was the big beneficiary of the line’s play as he had big holes to run through and then put on a clinic on how to avoid tacklers as he bulled, dodged, and weaved his way to 175 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

“The line did an awesome job. They’re so young, I didn’t think they’d know what to do or expect from Belfast, but they came out and proved themselves tonight,” Vigue said. “I was really surprised how big the holes were, but I was really happy for myself and those guys.”

LTC leading receiver Sam Hapworth was held to only one catch, but it was a 32-yard touchdown reception to put Winslow up 14-0 just before halftime. He also made a game-changing play early by stopping Belfast’s Colby Horne with a superlative one-on-one tackle at the Raider 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal from the W-4.

“That was probably the play of the game right there,” said Vigue.

Hapworth’s tackle kept the Lions from scoring after they intercepted a pass at midfield and returning it 25 yards on Winslow’s first offensive play of the game. It also started a 99-yard, 12-play drive lasting five minutes, 49 seconds and ending with Chris McInnis’ 14-yard TD run on an option play down the left sideline.

After that, the Raiders’ line of Nick Souviney, Ken Nadeau, Shawn Roy, Shawn Poulin, and Chris Desrosiers took over, foot by foot, yard by yard, and down by down.

“We are young, but Shawn Roy’s been the glue that keeps us together in there,” said coach Mike Siviski, whose Raiders are 6-0.

Winslow’s defense wasn’t too shabby either as it held an offense averaging well over 250 rushing yards per game to 128 on the ground and 273 total, much of which came via quarterback Ben Cowan (9-for-18, 131 yards). The Raiders also held Parenteau, who had 871 rushing yards coming in, to 32 yards on 18 carries.

“We had a very difficult time doing what we normally do. Winslow was just quicker than we were to the ball all night long,” said Belfast offensive coordinator Butch Richards.

Hapworth continued his all-around, blue-collar effort by springing Raider fullback Derek Runnels for a a 61-yard TD run with a solid downfield block and helping Winslow take a 20-0 lead with 4:27 left in the third quarter.

“I knew what the play was and where Derek was gonna be, so I knew I had to block out the cornerback or he wasn’t going to score,” Hapworth said.

Belfast finally got on the board in the final quarter as Horne caught a 28-yard TD pass from Cowan with 7:42 to play, but any hopes the 5-1 Lions had of a dramatic comeback quickly evaporated after McInnis returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to the Lions’ 1 and Vigue took it in for the score 17 seconds later.

The last two scores came courtesy of a 21-yard TD pass from Cowan to Ben Aldus with 5:15 to play and James Bridges’ 8-yard TD run for Winslow with 10 seconds left.

BLACK RAIDERS 33, LIONS 12

Winslow (6-0) 7 7 6 13?33

Belfast (5-1) 0 0 6 6? 6

W ? McInnis 14 run (McInnis kick)

W ? Hapworth 32 pass from Langlais (McInnis kick)

W ? Runnels 61 run (kick blocked)

B ? Horne 28 pass from Cowan (rush failed)

W ? Vigue 1 run (McInnis kick)

B ? Aldus 21 pass from Cowan (pass failed)

W ? Bridges 8 run (rush failed)

Winslow Belfast

First downs 14 11

Rushing att.-yards 47-310 38-128

Passing comp.-att. 2-9 10-19

Passing yards 33 145

Total yards 343 273

Punts-avg. 5-26.2 4-35.5

Fumbles-lost 2-0 5-2

Intercepted by 1 3

Penalties-yards 5-50 4-30

Rushing

Winslow: Vigue 26-175, Runnels 8-85, Bridges 8-30, McInnis 1-14, Langlais 4-6; Belfast: Welch 7-41, Horne 6-39, Parenteau 18-32, Cowan 7-16

Passing

Winslow: Langlais 2-8-2-33, Vigue 0-1-1-0; Belfast: Cowan 9-18-1-131, Arthers 1-1-0-14

Receiving

Winslow: Hapworth 1-32, McInnis 1-1; Belfast: Horne 5-82, Aldus 1-21, Duval 1-19, Welch 2-15, Gregory 1-8

A?2,000 (est.)