BUCKSPORT – The key factor in Friday night’s game for the visiting Dexter Tigers was Bucksport tailback Warren Chase. The Tigers figured if they could stop him, they’d have a good chance stopping Bucksport.

Chase started the game with a flourish, accounting for 30 of the 57 yards in the Golden Bucks’ marathon, opening scoring drive, but then had to leave the game with a knee strain. Coupled with the absence of the other member of Bucksport’s backfield duo, Rustin Ames (concussion), and Dexter appeared to be in good shape.

However, the Bucks had a few other solid backs to go to, most notably sophomore Chris Woodman, and the Tigers had injury woes of their own. Those two factors combined with Bucksport’s size advantage up front and six Dexter turnovers added up to an emphatic 51-0 Bucksport homecoming victory on a humid night at Carmichael Field.

“I knew we had to step it up and play hard. The holes opened up real wide and the line did an excellent job in front of me. I had many yards to go before I even got hit,” said Woodman, who finished with a game-high four touchdowns and 96 yards on 23 carries.

The momentum went solidly to the Bucksport sideline as the Bucks, now 3-1, took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards in 18 plays and eight minutes.

“That was a big drive,” said Bucks coach Joel Sankey. “And the next one we scored on was big too because we didn’t have Warren.”

Dexter, now 2-2, had its own absences to worry about as starting quarterback-cornerback Vinnie Greene missed the game with a knee injury. That caused a domino effect as six players ended up switching positions, the most notable of which was fullback Kevin Armstrong shifting to quarterback, where he went 4-for-9 for 58 yards passing, but was held to two yards rushing on 12 carries.

Dexter coach Haggie Pratt wasn’t about to make excuses, however.

“You could just see that we dug ourselves too deep a hole. Even when we were up and fired up for the game, they still kept the ball for eight minutes and scored,” he said. “The turnovers are what killed us, but that’s football.”

After each team mounted drives only to punt, the Tigers fumbled on their own 3-yard line and Bucksport recovered. One play and six seconds later, Woodman was in the end zone and the Bucks led 14-0 with 9:42 left in the first half. After a kickoff and a 12-yard Dexter return, the Tigers fumbled again and Brian Sullivan recovered for the Bucks at the D-20. Four plays later, Woodman scored on a 1-yard run and it was 21-0 with 8:42 left.

“We thought we were pretty deep there,” Sankey said. “Chris has run real well for our JVs and he came out here and showed it here, too. We’ve got some kids who can run, but of course we’ve got some kids up front who can block.”

The Bucks ground up 277 yards on 53 carries behind the line of David Mushrall, Jeff Pierce, Todd Cotier, Shawn Allen, and Donnie Eldridge.

In the second half, Dexter fumbled on its first two possessions and Bucksport converted them into 10 more points, and the game was effectively over.

The Bucks’ defense was especially tough as it limited Dexter to 33 total yards in the first half and 69 for the game. Dexter was held to negative 10 yards rushing in the second half.

GOLDEN BUCKS 51, TIGERS 0

Dexter 0 0 0 0? 0

Bucksport 7 14 24 6?51

B ? Woodman 1 run (LaLonde kick)

B ? Woodman 3 run (LaLonde kick)

B ? Woodman 1 run (LaLonde kick)

B ? Woodman 3 run (LaLonde kick)

B ? LaLonde 32 field goal

B ? McHale 1 run (LaLonde kick)

B ? Cain 50 interception return (LaLonde kick)

B ? Harvey 45 run (rush failed)

Dexter Bucksport

First downs 4 15

Rushing att.-yards 28-11 53-277

Passing comp.-att. 4-9 5-9

Passing yards 58 53

Total yards 69 330

Punts-avg. 3-32.7 1-48.0

Fumbles-lost 6-5 0-0

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 3-25 8-75

Rushing

Dexter: Vafiades 5-15, Berry 4-4, Armstrong 12-2, Thomas 2-(-2), Russell 5-8; Bucksport: Woodman 23-96, Harvey 1-45, Boober 3-41, Chase 8-30, Carrier 6-27, Siverly 6-26, Fitzgerald 2-10, McHale 2-8, Cain 2-(-6)

Passing

Dexter: Armstrong 4-9-1-58; Bucksport: McHale 5-9-0-53

Receiving

Dexter: Day 1-36, Bishop 1-12, Paige 1-9, Thomas 1-1; Bucksport: Ogden 1-21, Beeson 2-14, Carrier 1-10, Ames 1-8

A?400