Nokomis not satisfied, seeking improvements

The Nokomis Warriors weren’t totally satisfied with Saturday afternoon’s varsity football debut, even though it resulted in a 22-6 victory over Old Town.

“We didn’t play very good,” said Nokomis quarterback Derek Amoroso. “We weren’t mentally prepared, and we made mental mistakes. We’re only going to get better.”

Nokomis relied on a strong defense to keep a rebuilding Old Town offense at bay, and while the Warriors struggled at time against the Coyotes’ defense, two touchdown runs by Shane Campbell and a touchdown pass from Amoroso to Ethan Curry were enough to secure the win.

“It’s a building process, and they’re moving through it,” said Old Town coach George “Toogie” McKay of Nokomis, “and I think they’re ahead of what you would think the normal curve for doing that is.”

And just as the Nokomis football physical plant is taking shape, the Warriors are optimistic their execution on the gridiron will grow with more experience in games that count.

“This will all pick up,” said Nokomis coach Dave Evans. “I thought they’d be a little more excited with the new scoreboard, the press box coming along and a pretty decent crowd, but it could have been first-game jitters.”

It also won’t hurt Nokomis – as well as other teams throughout the state – to get into the typical fall routine of going to practice after school days in preparation for each game. Many school played their openers last weekend before attending a single day of classes.

“We do know that after double sessions they’ve been going home and taking a nap,” said Evans, whose team plays Saturday at 0-1 Waterville. “This [the afternoon] is nap time for them, but that’s going to change once school starts.”

Hash a bright light for Eagles

One of the more impressive efforts in a losing cause during Week 1 of the high school football season came from Messalonskee senior fullback David Hash.

One of only 12 seniors on the Eagles’ roster, Hash powered his way to 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns during Messalonskee’s 54-18 loss at Bangor.

Many of Hash’s runs played out this way: He took a handoff out of the Eagles’ double-wing formation, then moved the pile of blockers in front of him for extra yardage until finally the whistle blew.

Yet he also showed speed to the outside on a couple of occasions, including a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

“David Hash is our best athlete and he really has the will and drive to want to succeed,” said Messalonskee coach Wes Littlefield. “He was the type of kid that was crying at halftime because we were getting our butts kicked, but I like that type of emotion because he brought it out on the field in the third quarter and we were able to do some things.”

Hash was part of a deep Messalonskee backfield a year ago that propelled the Eagles to the Eastern Maine Class A playoffs, but this year he is the only experienced starter behind quarterback Matt Stuart.

“He’s a man,” said Bangor coach Mark Hackett, “and it’s just too bad there wasn’t more experience with him,” said Hackett. “We’d love to have him.

“And he was classy. There wasn’t very much chippiness. They have a lot of pride, and he just kept going the whole game.”

Messalonskee rushed for 301 yards against Bangor, but Hackett wasn’t disappointed in his team’s defensive play, particularly early in the game when the Rams yielded a touchdown on the Eagles’ second possession but pitched a shutout for the rest of the first half in building a 34-6 lead.

“I was happy with our contact level, especially in the secondary when they came up and especially [safety] Ian [Edwards],” said Hackett. “I thought it was about as well as we’ve played against the double wing.”

Bangor’s strategy was to use its line to clog the middle, freeing linebackers, ends and defensive backs to step up to make most of the tackles.

“Our line was pretty much making piles with their line and just reading the fullback,” said senior linebacker Tyler McDade. “You can’t really read that offense, you have to just shoot out, make a hit and then make a pile and let people clean it up.”