KITTERY – The Traip Academy football team has 18 players in uniform. That’s all.

But what the Rangers lack in quantity, they have in quality. The Rangers stayed unbeaten through the first three games of the season in rolling to a 31-0 win over Freeport in a battle of unbeatens here Saturday at Memorial Field.

Traip (3-0) has outscored its opponents 111-0.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” said two-way senior tackle Ben Castellano.

“Everyone contributes and we get the job done.”

The fact the Rangers have a small squad doesn’t faze them.

“That’s Class C football,” said Dan Eddy.

Offensively, the Rangers were efficient with running backs Devon Draker and Cory Aldecoa gaining big yardage. Quarterback Chris Czachor had all day to throw. He passed for two touchdowns.

While the Rangers don’t have the numbers, they have the size up front with Castellano at 270 pounds, Eddy at 250 and a couple more well over 200 pounds.

Freeport (2-1) never really threatened. The Falcons got to the 16 early in the second quarter, but defensive end Cam Cavanaugh dropped Freeport running back Jared Polley for a 3-yard loss on third down and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

The Falcons got inside the 20 late in the game with their second team.

“We wanted to put the game away early and then play it conservatively in the second half,” said Traip Coach Ron Ross.

“We wanted to rest some of our players because we have a big game at Yarmouth next week.”

But with only 18 players, you can’t rest too many of your starters.

That was a bone of contention at the end when Freeport Coach Rob Grover shouted across the field, “Hey, Ron, I have my (junior varsity) in.”

Ross tried to get in as many subs as he could, but there just aren’t that many.

“My problem is that (Ross) had his starting middle linebacker, Draker, in the game at the end against my (junior varsity),” said Grover.

In his rebuttal, Ross said: “I’m not going to put someone in who isn’t ready. We had to cancel our (junior varsity) season,” he said.

The two coaches met at midfield after the game after the players’ handshakes. They had some words but nothing that intense.

Early in the game, Freeport had receivers open but couldn’t connect.

“The bottom line is we beat ourselves,” said Grover.

Draker scored on a 1-yard run midway through the opening period to make it 6-0.

Late in the quarter, Atencio Martin, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver, caught a 26-yard pass from Czachor to make it 13-0.

Just before halftime, Draker made a leaping catch of a Czachor pass at the goal line for another touchdown. The play covered 32 yards.

In the third quarter, Christian Montembeau kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 24-0.

Anthony Sowell ended the scoring with a 22-yard run with eight minutes remaining.

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

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH