Waterville’s depth defeats Brewer

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BREWER – The post-game fireworks over Doyle Field were designed as part of this weekend’s Brewer Days festivities.

But it was Waterville that was celebrating after a 40-6 Pine Tree Conference Class B football victory over Brewer on Friday night.

The 2-0 Purple Panthers were keyed by their depth of running backs, as five different ballcarriers gained more than 50 yards apiece for the second straight week as Waterville rushed for 412 yards overall.

Senior Chris Smith led the way, amassing 156 yards on 13 carries. Caleb Johnston added 74 yards on 12 tries, while Mike Bernhardt (9-73), Jake Bizier (8-55) and quarterback Nate Lancaster (8-51) all found rushing success.

“Having depth in our offensive backfield is great,” said veteran Waterville coach Frank Knight. “We’re really two-deep at the backs, and they’re all physical runners. We have a real intelligent quarterback in Lancaster, and with [offensive coordinator] Kenny [Lindlof] being creative it’s a lot for the other defenses to deal with. We just try to keep coming at you, and tonight that paid off for us.”

Those backs all benefited from the blocking up front of center Paul LePage, tackles Chris Genest and Jordan Shulman and guards Nick Gatz and John Ringer.

“With all the guys we have we’re able to stay fresh,” said Smith. “We can run hard since we get some breaks, and our line has been amazing, they’ve been making it real easy for us.

“When they make the initial block, we just try to get up field as quick as we can and make one guy miss.”

Waterville’s defense, meanwhile, rarely missed against a youthful Brewer team rebuilding after last year’s run to the state championship. The Purple Panthers limited the Witches to 114 total yards, including just 40 in the first half as Waterville built a 27-0 lead.

Lancaster, who rushed for two touchdowns and passed for a third, gave Waterville a 6-0 lead on a 9-yard keeper around right end with 4:20 left in the opening quarter. Smith sparked the 56-yard march on the Panthers’ second possession, breaking loose for gains of 30 and 9 yards on the first two plays of the drive.

Waterville broke the game open with three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter.

Smith capped off a 35-yard march with a 4-yard scoring run on the first play of the period, and Bernhardt rushed for the two-point conversion to make it 14-0.

Smith scored again on the Panthers’ next possession. After Johnston ran a counter 19 yards on the first play after a Brewer punt, Smith took the ball up the middle and broke several tackles during a 46-yard run that extended the lead to 20-0 with 9:52 left before the break.

Waterville converted on another two-play possession later in the quarter. Lancaster ran a keeper for 16 yards, then Bernhardt went right and made a nice cutback to his left to score from 27 yards out. Jason Allen added the extra-point kick with 5:12 left in the period.

The Panthers capitalized on a turnover at the outset of the second half, as Smith recovered a fumble by Brewer fullback James Butts on the first play from scrimmage at the Witches’ 33. Six plays later, Lancaster found Tyler Joseph over the middle for an 18-yard TD pass with 8:17 left in the period.

Lancaster scored on a 1-yard sneak later in the quarter to give Waterville a 40-0 lead.

Brewer (1-1) broke up the shutout bid early in the fourth quarter, when sophomore Dellray Meeker scored on a 28-yard run to cap off a five-play, 63-yard drive. Rob Burnham set up the score with a 24-yard run around right end on the play before Meeker reached the end zone.

PURPLE PANTHERS 40, WITCHES 6

Waterville (2-0) 6 21 13 0 – 40

Brewer (1-1) 0 0 0 6 – 6

Scoring summary goes next

W-Lancaster 9 run (kick failed)

W-Smith 4 run (Bernhardt rush)

W-Smith 46 run (kick failed)

W-Bernhardt 27 run (Allen kick)

W-Joseph 18 pass from Lancaster (Allen kick)

W-Lancaster 1 run (kick failed)

B-Meeker 28 run (kick blocked)

Waterville Brewer

First downs 18 6

Rushing att.-yards 51-412 33-101

Passing comp.-att. 2-10 1-6

Passing yards 30 13

Total yards 442 114

Punts-avg. 1-31.0 8-27.0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-1

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 9-62 5-50

Rushing

Waterville: Smith 13-156, Johnston 10-74, Bernhardt 9-73, Bizier 8-55, Lancaster 8-51, MacDonnell 2-2, Bishop 1-1; Brewer: Meeker 7-35, Burnham 5-34, Butts 10-30, Bush 2-6, Adams 3-5, Murphy 2-5, Nickerson 1-3, Jackson 1-2, Bissell 1-(minus-9), Smith 1-(minus-10)

Passing

Passing stats listed: comp.-att.-int.-yds.

Waterville: Lancaster 2-9-0-30, Bishop 0-1-0-0; Brewer: Adams 1-5-1-13, Smith 0-1-0-0

Receiving

Waterville: Joseph 1-18, Johnston 1-12; Brewer: Babin 1-13

A-1,000 (est.)