SCARBOROUGH – Scarborough didn’t score against Bonny Eagle in the second half. The Red Storm had done enough of that in the first half.

Scarborough scored the first 35 points, then left it to its defense to stop Bonny Eagle when it had to in the second half for an impressive 35-18 Western Class A football victory Friday night.

Dillon Russo passed for two touchdowns and ran for one as Scarborough (2-0) might have caught the Scots (1-1) by surprise in achieving one of the program’s best wins.

“Our team is really motivated,” said Russo. “We’re never afraid to meet a challenge and we definitely believe in ourselves.”

On the first play, Russo, a senior hampered by injuries last year, threw an interception. It was all Red Storm after that.

Scarborough stopped the Scots on downs to force a punt. Russo, showing his moves, returned it 42 yards to the 27. Eventually, Dan LeClair scored from the 2.

After Scarborough stopped the Scots on downs again, a 17-yard run by Russo brought the ball to the 32. On the next play, he passed to Chris Cyr over the middle for the score.

The point-after showcased Russo’s athleticism. An errant snap forced Russo to retrieve the football under pressure, but he improvised with a pass in the flat to LeClair, who took it in for a conversion that made it 15-0.

It was more Russo for the rest of the half. On a third-and-4 from his 32 in the second quarter, he dropped back to pass, saw his receivers covered, then scampered outside and down the sideline for the touchdown. Greg Viola’s PAT made it 22-0.

“Dillon Russo is a great player,” said Bonny Eagle Coach Kevin Cooper. “He’s just a football player. He does everything well.”

Merrick Madden of Scarborough intercepted a Tyson Goodale pass and returned it 22 yards for a TD with 3:59 left in the half. And with just under two minutes remaining, Viola caught a 16-yard pass from Russo to make it 35-0.

The Scots finally put a drive together and scored with three seconds left in the half when Goodale passed 5 yards to Seamus Meyer.

The Red Storm’s offense cooled in the second half, but its defense made big stops whenBonny Eagle threatened to get back in it.

“We got off to a good start on offense and defense,” said Coach Lance Johnson. “Our offense sputtered a little bit in the second half but the defense did a good job keeping us ahead.”

The Scots, playing with more urgency, took the second-half kickoff and scored on nine plays, Goodale running in from the 9. Then Goodale intercepted a Russo pass at midfield — his second of the game. The Scots got inside the 10 but the Red Storm recovered an errant snap.

“We made a goal at halftime of winning the second half,” said Cooper. “You can’t play like we did in the first half and expect to win in (Western Class A). We weren’t ready to play and we weren’t physical. If we can learn from this and come back and be a better team, we’ll be fine. We knew Scarborough was going to be a tough opponent. Coach Johnson and his staff do a great job.”

Goodale scored on a 5-yard run early in the fourth to make it 35-18, then the Scots recovered a bobble on the kickoff. On fourth down from the 10, Bonny Eagle dropped a pass in the end zone.

“We would have liked to have that one back,” said Cooper.

Russo was 7-of-10 passing for 113 yards with three interceptions. He also rushed for 96 yards on 11 carries.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

 

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