SKOWHEGAN – The Brunswick High School football team knows all too well how turnovers can wreck a game.

On Friday, Skowhegan found out for itself. The Dragons scored 14 points off turnovers in the opening four minutes and cruised to a 26-0 win over the Indians in a Pine Tree Conference Class A game at Clark Field.

“We just dug ourselves in a hole and we couldn’t climb out,” Skowhegan Coach Mike Marston said. “We had a few errors early.”

And they proved costly.

The Dragons (1-1), who had six turnovers in a 21-20 loss to Bangor last week, jumped out early.

The Indians won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. But running back Adam Dusty fumbled on their second play from scrimmage, setting the Dragons up at the Skowhegan 23.

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It took just two plays for Brunswick to capitalize, with Dylan Walton rushing for a 22-yard touchdown only a little more than a minute into the game.

“Last week I don’t know what happened, but we couldn’t hold on to the ball,” said Brunswick senior linebacker/running back Keith Kitchens, who rushed for 77 yards and had a key interception. “So this was huge.”

Kitchens intercepted Skowhe-gan quarterback Ethan Johnson about two minutes later to again put the Dragons in prime real estate.

They took over at the Skowhegan 14 and went up 14-0 on a Kitchens’ 5-yard touchdown run and a Jordan Rysdham extra point.

“Last week was a tough loss to get over,” Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper said. “But we certainly improved in (the turnover) department. It was a great start for our defense.”

Added Dusty, a senior running back: “It was tough to come back from a few scores down, but we didn’t give up.”

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Walton rushed for 39 yards on three carries but was sidelined midway through the first quarter with a left ankle sprain. Rysdham led the Dragons with 91 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Brunswick padded its lead when Kitchens recovered a fumble from Rysdham and scored from a yard out with 2:10 left in the first quarter.

Skowhegan and its double wing offense struggled early.

The Indians had just 6 net yards of offense in the first quarter and 51 at the half.

The Indians finished with 131 yards of total offense and six first downs. They never got inside the Brunswick 30.

Brunswick had 301 yards of offense.

Kennebec Journal writer Bill Stewart can be reached at 621-5640 or:

bstewart@centralmaine.com

 


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