GORHAM – Quarterback Jamie Ross needed only one play to make something — anything — happen for the Deering football team.

Ross found his opening on Deering’s first play, charging to midfield before referees ruled he was out of bounds.

Then the rest of the team picked it up.

On Deering’s next play, Nick DiBiase took a handoff and went 55 yards, scoring the first touchdown in a 41-6 victory against Gorham.

DiBiase’s touchdown came two plays after Gorham fumbled at Deering’s 2. While it seemed to be a feat for any team to travel 98 yards to score, the Rams did just that in two plays — Ross’ carry to his 45, and DiBiase’s 55-yard run with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

“I thought he was in,” Deering receiver Renaldo Lowry said of Ross’ run. “But know what? It’s not my call. It was a great run.

“It gave us a lot of momentum. It feels good because once someone else does good, we all want to do good. That’s where I broke out, that’s where John Hardy got us some good catches and our defense came together.”

Lowry scored three touchdowns and had 107 yards receiving, including 99 on touchdown receptions — a 3-yarder late in the first quarter, a 25-yarder 1:18 into the second and a 71-yarder less than four minutes into the fourth that helped Deering (2-0) to a 35-6 lead.

“Ross throws some great balls to me,” said Lowry. “As a receiver you have to catch them.”

Kamron Alexander scored for Gorham with 4:54 left in the first half on a 3-yard run that ended a 22-play, 86-yard drive that bridged the first and second quarters. Otherwise Gorham (0-2) was held scoreless despite rushing for 222 yards on 68 carries, led by Nick Kilborn’s 109 yards on 24 carries.

“Offensively it’s a matter of getting kids healthy,” Gorham Coach Dave Kilborn said. “We’ve had kids banged up here and there and we’ve had to play younger kids who may or may not normally have played in the past.”

Lowry scored his first touchdown with 24.1 seconds left in the first half on a 3-yard pass from Ross (5 of 6 passing, 141 yards), followed by the second of Ross’ five point-after kicks.

“Going into halftime, scoring that touchdown, it really gave us the momentum,” Lowry said. “Then, coming out, we all talked to each other and came together as a team.”

Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Ross connected with Lowry on a 25-yard touchdown and less than four minutes later, Deering took advantage of Gorham’s fumble on a punt return at the Gorham 5 — one of four turnovers by Gorham. Ross needed one play to give Deering a 28-6 lead, and Lowrie and Dominic Lauture added fourth-quarter touchdowns for Deering.

“We coughed the ball up a couple times and they capitalized on those and did a great job,” Kilborn said. “Taking advantage of the opportunities that they did, they capitalized. We made some key mistakes but we’re also pretty young, and that’s going to happen.”

 

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be contacted at 791-6415 or at: rlenzi@pressherald.com