DOVER-FOXCROFT – Josh Pelletier was armed with a defensive game plan Friday night, one that didn’t take him long to execute.
The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Foxcroft Academy senior made three straight tackles – two for no gain and one for 1 yard – on Orono’s first three plays from scrimmage, setting the tone for a dominant defensive effort that lifted the Ponies to a 28-6 LTC football victory at Oakes Field.
The win was the fourth straight for 4-1 Foxcroft, while Orono is 3-2 after having its three-game win streak ended.
Foxcroft’s challenge in its Homecoming game was to slow an Orono attack that had produced 113 points the last two weeks – and in particular contain Red Riots’ star Mardy Simon, who had 1,023 rushing yards in his first four games this fall, including an LTC-record 437 last Saturday at Boothbay.
Pelletier drew the assignment of shadowing Simon, and the two-time state wrestling champion used his combination of size, strength, quickness, and smarts to win that battle.
Simon did break one long run, a 41-yarder for Orono’s lone touchdown with 9:31 left in the second quarter, but finished with a human 95 yards on 20 carries.
“Coach [Paul Withee] had me line up against him, he wanted me eyeing him every time,” said Pelletier. “We did a good job of modeling their offense during our practices, so we got to get a good look at what they were going to do. I was able to read the plays most of the time, and I was able to key off Simon most of the time.”
Withee originally planned to have Pelletier as a down lineman shadowing Simon, but altered that plan at midweek to have him at linebacker, where he could play in space and work from side to side.
“I don’t know what to say about the kid, he was phenomenal,” said Withee. “Josh was making tackles on the other side of the field as well, not just his own side. I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I don’t ever recall a performance like that on the defensive side of the ball.”
Foxcroft’s run defense was complemented by a pass defense that limited Orono to one completion and produced three interceptions. Jon Catell had two picks, one he returned 69 yards for a touchdown 1:17 into the second quarter to give the Ponies a 14-0 lead, and Shayne Croan also had a interception.
“Our goal was to get them in passing situations,” said Withee, “because I feel very comfortable about our secondary. This was a total team effort. We had contributions from everybody on this team.”
That included the offense. Quarterback Logan Forrest his 7 of 13 passes for 90 yards, including a 32-yard TD strike to Catell with 9:14 left in the game to account for the only scoring of the second half.
Senior Joey Caparrelli, one of eight FA ballcarriers, rushed for 94 yards on 14 carries, including a 4-yard TD run to open the scoring with 2:35 left in the first quarter. That score was set up by Ben Provost’s 40-yard punt that pinned Orono at its 4-yard line for its second series of the game.
Pelletier then made two more tackles as the Ponies limited the Red Riots to no yards on three plays, and the ensuing punt gave FA the ball at the Orono 28. Five plays later, Caparrelli scored behind the lead blocks of Pelletier and fullback James McPhee out of a power-I formation.
McPhee added 75 rushing yards on 11 carries and also caught a 13-yard TD pass from Forrest late in the first half to give the Ponies a 21-6 lead at the break.
“We just gained a lot of respect that we haven’t been getting,” said McPhee. “All our backs ran hard, our linemen went all out, we put it all together, and we rolled like we should. That’s Pony football right there.”
Foxcroft finished with 210 rushing yards behind the line play of Bill Macomber, Adam Dow, Tim Nason, David White, Adam LePrevost, and Pelletier, the lone senior on the offensive front.
“Josh is the real deal,” said Withee. “The real deal. He’s the best two-way player we’ve had around here in a long time.”
PONIES 29, RED RIOTS 6
Orono (3-2) 0 6 0 0 – 6
Foxcroft (4-1) 7 14 0 7 – 29
FA – Caparrelli 4 run (Bellemare kick)
FA – Catell 69 interception return (Bellemare kick)
O – Simon 41 run (kick blocked)
FA – McPhee 13 pass from Forrest (Bellemare kick)
FA – Catell 32 pass from Forrest (Bellemare kick)
Orono Foxcroft
First downs 12 17
Rushing att.-yards 38-176 43-210
Passing comp.-att. 1-8 7-13
Passing yards 17 90
Total yards 193 300
Punts-avg. 3-27.3 3-31.6
Fumbles-lost 3-2 6-2
Intercepted by 0 3
Penalties-yards 4-29 6-50
Rushing
Orono: Simon 20-95, Dunton 11-60, Millard 6-20, Bussell 1-1; Foxcroft: Caparrelli 14-94, McPhee 11-75, Bellemare 5-27, Rideout 4-9, Adkins 1-4, Croan 1-3, Forrest 4-2, Pelletier 3-(minus 4)
Passing
Orono: Bussell 1-7-3-17, Simon 0-1-0-0; Foxcroft: Forrest 7-13-0-88
Receiving
Orono: Simon 1-17; Foxcroft: McPhee 2-30, Croan 2-13, Catell 1-32, McKusick 1-9, Caparrelli 1-6
A-500 (est.)
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