NEWPORT – Every step in the birth of a high school football program is significant, in that it hasn’t been done at that particular location.

But Saturday’s development in the life of the fledgling Nokomis Warriors was perhaps the biggest of all – their first varsity game, and their first varsity victory.

With a new scoreboard having been installed earlier in the day and a new press box taking shape in the background, Nokomis made a successful Pine Tree Conference Class B debut with a 22-6 win over stubborn Old Town.

“It means a lot, it’s a big step for us,” said Nokomis sophomore quarterback Derek Amoroso, who threw the first touchdown pass in the team’s varsity history, a 20-yard strike to Ethan Curry with 4:34 left in the second quarter to give the Warriors a 14-0 halftime lead. “We didn’t play that good, but we got a win and that’s what matters.”

Junior tailback Shane Campbell was the biggest offensive history maker of the day, not only booting the game’s opening kickoff but following that up with 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

His first score came on the Warriors’ second possession, after Nokomis recovered an Old Town fumble at the Coyotes’ 23.

On the fifth play of the subsequent march, Campbell took a pitch from Amoroso and went wide left eight yards to the end zone to give the Warriors their first varsity touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 5:09 left in the opening period.

That lead grew to 8-0 midway through the second quarter when an Old Town punt snap sailed out of the end zone.

The Warriors’ final score came late in the third quarter on an 11-yard run by Campbell, with Stanley Prophete’s two-point conversion run extending the margin to 22-0.

That touchdown was set up by Nokomis outside linebacker J.C. White. One of just 10 seniors on the opening-day roster, White intercepted a Josh Boucher pass at the Old Town 45 and returned it down the right sideline to the end zone – only to have a penalty on the return ultimately give the Warriors possession at the Coyotes’ 21.

The interception was one of five turnovers produced by the Nokomis defense, which was led by Teddy Smith, a sophomore who lined up at middle linebacker and nose tackle.

“Defensively we played pretty well,” said Nokomis coach Dave Evans. “Teddy Smith did an outstanding job, he was all over the place. I don’t know how many tackles he had but he had more than his share. I’m thinking he’s only a sophomore and he’s 6-3 and 240, where’s he going to be when he’s a senior? He’s only going to get better.”

The Warriors limited Old Town to just 19 rushing yards and 80 yards of total offense, an effort that also included five quarterback sacks.

“We wanted to stop the run,” said Smith, who was aided at linebacker by White and senior Matt Jacob. “They liked to run wide side so we tried to stop that.”

Nokomis needed a strong defensive effort, because the Warriors’ offense was challenged by a resilient Old Town defense led by Lance Getchell, Seth Wallace and Jacob Ramp, who returned a pass interception 60 yards for the Coyotes’ lone touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

The Coyotes limited Nokomis to less than four yards per rushing attempt (42 carries, 144 yards) and 182 yards of total offense.

“No question in my mind we played very well defensively,” said George “Toogie” McKay, the longtime former Mount Desert Island coach who is in his first year of his own rebuilding job at Old Town. “The kids hit hard, they got to the right place. We weren’t perfect, but where we’ve come from in our scrimmage against MCI and our blowout loss to Orono in an exhibition game, we’ve made some great strides.

“The defensive play was extremely positive for us today. The kids ran to the ball hard and they tackled well when they got there.”

Boucher, just a sophomore, completed 7 of 14 passes for 61 yards for the Coyotes, including six completions for 54 yards to Getchell, the tight end.

WARRIORS 22, COYOTES 6

Old Town (0-1) 0 0 0 6 – 6

Nokomis (1-0) 6 8 8 0 – 22

N-Campbell 8 run (rush failed)

N-Safety, punt snap out of end zone

N-Curry 20 pass from Amoroso (rush failed)

N-Campbell 11 run (Prophete kick)

O-Ramp 60 interception return (pass failed)

Old Town Nokomis

First downs 5 9

Rushing att.-yards 27-19 42-144

Passing comp.-att. 7-14 5-14

Passing yards 61 38

Total yards 80 182

Punts-avg. 3-40.0 3-25.3

Fumbles-lost 4-4 1-0

Intercepted by 1 1

Penalties-yards 6-42 6-60

Rushing

Old Town: Ramp 8-21, Leland 6-16, Joey Boucher 5-4, Josh Boucher 8-(minus-22); Nokomis: Campbell 17-90, Long 8-27, Prophete 7-21, White 1-3, Boldic 1-3, Moontri 1-1, Amoroso 6-0, Hughes 1-(minus-1)

Passing

Old Town: Josh Boucher 7-14-1-61; Nokomis: Amoroso 5-14-1-38

Receiving

Old Town: Getchell 6-54, Toole 1-7; Nokomis: Curry 2-25, McLemore 1-16, Barrows 1-(minus-1), Long 1-(minus-2)

A-400 (est.)