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BANGOR – Blowing winds and pouring rain made it tough for both the Husson and Becker college football teams to hold on to the ball during Saturday afternoon’s game at the Winkin Complex.
The Eagles’ backs were slippery, too, although that likely had little to do with the poor weather conditions.
Justin Lindie led the way with 169 rushing yards as Husson racked up 446 yards on the ground en route to a 46-20 victory over the Hawks of Worcester, Mass.
It was the final game of the season for coach Gabby Price’s 6-3 Eagles, who honored their seniors before the opening kickoff.
“[The conditions were] extremely hard but we were trying to win this game for the seniors,” said Lindie, a freshman from Winslow. “Everyone wanted to win it for them. It was tough but we tried to keep going.”
Plenty of seniors got involved, too, as quarterback Jeremy Shorey passed for two touchdowns and fullback Shawn McCurdy ran for another.
Husson’s ground game was dominated by underclassmen, however, with Lindie’s big yardage and sophomore Julius Williams contributing 153 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Sophomore Bryan Ferguson tallied 47 rushing yards, often spelling Williams in the first half.
“We’ve got three excellent running backs,” Lindie said. “We just all worked together, helped each other out by spelling each other. It was hard to do it all by yourself so it had to be a team effort.”
McCurdy rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown, but his key run was a 24-yard rumble that set up Lindie’s first touchdown.
“I think that really took [Becker] off-guard,” Lindie said. “They were not expecting the fullback to get the ball and he made a few little moves and got out there. Excellent run.”
The elusive Lindie was even more impressive considering he ran for just 28 yards in the first half and didn’t touch the ball, except as a punter, until Husson’s final drive of the second quarter. He scored on TD runs of 43 and 31 yards.
Lindie averaged 9.9 yards per carry and the Eagles ran for 7.2 as a team. They ran 62 running plays.
“That was the game plan,” Shorey said. “We just wanted to pound them up front. We pride ourselves on ball control and that’s what we focused on today.”
Shorey and Lindie credited Husson’s offensive line of brothers Matt Benson and John Benson, David Brown, Louis Avent and Jason Cross, along with tight ends P.J. Dowe and Nate Paradis, with blocking and opening up holes.
“They made every block they needed to make,” said Shorey. “Even the ones they missed, our running backs were able to adjust and make a good play.
The Hawks (2-7) did capitalize on Husson’s only turnover when Jamari Hawkins picked up a Lindie fumble in the fourth quarter and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.
“It was really hard to hold the ball,” Lindie said. “A lot of times you could barely feel your hands.”
Becker quarterback Gabriel Prophet and the Hawks looked good on their touchdown drive in the first quarter, mixing running plays with passing plays, including a 24-yard completion on third-and-15 from the Husson 31 to set up a 1-yard run by Prophet that gave Becker a 7-6 lead in the first quarter.
The Eagles answered on their next drive, taking advantage of good field position on a short kickoff. The drive, which started at Husson’s 45-yard line, culminated in Shorey’s 10-yard touchdown pass to freshman Victor McKenzie.
“We weren’t expecting the weather to cooperate with us, which it didn’t, but earlier we got good breaks in the weather to throw the football and we took advantage of that,” Shorey said.
The rain and the Husson defense kept Prophet off-balance from the second quarter on. The Eagles recorded four interceptions, including two by Doug Blades, and forced one fumble.
Ramael Barton’s second-quarter pickoff led to Shorey’s second TD pass of the game, a 6-yarder to Kyle Poissonnier.
The Hawks had averaged 317.8 passing yards per game going into Saturday’s contest, but Prophet managed just 150 on 13-for-37 passing. He was 6-for-11 with 49 yards in the first quarter.
Becker made no secret of what it planned to do, often running plays without anyone in the backfield and going to five-receiver sets.
“We knew [Becker was] going to throw a lot,” Price said. “The defense played great. They got to the quarterback and did some good things.”
Shorey started at quarterback instead of Jonah Chappell, who did not play because of a violation of team rules, according to Husson sports information director and men’s basketball coach Warren Caruso.
EAGLES 46, HAWKS 20
Becker (2-7) 7 0 0 13 – 20
Husson (6-3) 12 14 0 20 – 46
H – Williams 6 run (Gauthier kick)
B – Prophet 1 run (DiNardi kick)
H – McKenzie 10 pass from Shorey (pass failed)
H – Poissonnier 6 pass from Shorey (pass failed)
H – Williams 5 run (Williams rush)
H – Lindie 43 run (Gauthier kick)
H – Lindie 31 run (Gauthier kick)
B – Turner 38 pass from Prophet (DiNardi kick)
B – Hawkins 65 fumble recovery (kick blocked)
H – McCurdy 3 run (kick failed)
Becker Husson
First downs 12 23
Rushing att.-yards 22-73 62-446
Passing comp.-att. 13-37 6-16
Passing yards 150 47
Total yards 223 493
Punts-avg. 5-23.2 2-34.5
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Intercepted by 0 4
Penalties-yards 7-64 13-114
Rushing
Becker: Stringer 8-48, Johnson 5-22, Anderson 3-4, Prophet 6-(minus 1); Husson: Lindie 17-169, Williams 25-149, McCurdy 5-61, Ferguson 11-47, Shorey 3-12, Barnett 1-8
Passing
Becker: Prophet 13-37-4-150; Husson: Shorey 6-16-0-47
Receiving
Becker: Smith 4-26, Johnson 3-23, Grillo 2-34, Faublas 2-13, Turner 1-38, Mercado 1-16; Husson: Poissonnier 3-17, McKenzie 2-22, Wildman 1-8
A-500
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