WESTBROOK — Marshwood High gave up its first points of the season Friday night but it didn’t really matter.
Not with that offense.
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A bevy of running backs chewed up big yardage as the Hawks rumbled to a 54-14 victory against Westbrook in a Western Class B football game at Olmsted Field.
Marshwood (3-0) was led by running backs Brett Gerry, Zach Doyon, Luc Blanchette – who alternated between quarterback and running back – and Jackson Howarth.
The Hawks scored on all five of their first-half possessions and led 35-6 at halftime.
“Physically we got after them,” said Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko. “We got downfield to block and we played hard. We have four to five backs we can call on.”
The Hawks shut out their first two opponents but Westbrook (1-2) scored on a 35-yard pass play from Bailey Sawyer to Derek Breunig midway through the second quarter after Marshwood had taken a 20-0 lead.
Asked if allowing their first points of the season bothered him, Rotsko said, “It doesn’t bother me but it may bother the kids.”
Gerry scored three touchdowns, had another called back because of a holding penalty and gained 158 yards on 17 carries.
Doyon had 68 yards in the first half but was used sparingly in the second. Blanchette rushed for 53 yards in the first half and Howarth had 46. Like Doyon, they didn’t get many touches in the second half.
The Hawks pulled their starters near the end of the third quarter.
Kyle Parmley, who shares the quarterback spot with Blanchette, threw two touchdown passes, a 3-yarder to Gerry and then a 38-yarder to 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end Jake Lebel with 19 seconds left in the first half that made it 35-6. Lebel showed some great open-field running.
“We got off the ball and played with a lot of passion from the start,” said slot back Jack Spear. “Offensively we have a lot of weapons. Teams can’t concentrate on one or two players on offense.”
Blanchette, Doyon and Howarth added touchdowns.
Blanchette was the returning starting quarterback but Parmley competed with him for the job in preseason.
The combination was even so Rotsko gives them equal playing time. Blanchette is the running quarterback while Parmley is the passer.
“Luc is fine with sharing the quarterback position with Kyle,” said Rotsko. “We can put Luc at running back.”
Also, it gives the Hawks even more options at running back.
“They’re fast, strong and athletic,” said Westbrook Coach Jeff Guerette. “Marshwood is also very physical. We knew the margin for error was very small. We’ll use this game as a teaching moment and build upon it. We have some very important games coming up.”
Marshwood swarmed the Blue Blazes so much, they couldn’t find much room for Sawyer to throw the ball.
The Hawks kept Westbrook’s fleet running back, Maurice Johnson, in check. Johnson scored on a 31-yard run with 44 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 48-14 after a Breunig 2-point conversion rush.
After forcing a punt on the game’s first series, Marshwood needed only seven plays to score with Gerry, Doyon, Blanchette and Howarth sharing the load.
Gerry scored on a 1-yard run. Blanchette scored with 28 seconds left in the opening quarter from the 11 to make it 14-0 after a Doyon 2-point conversion.
Gerry’s 3-yard touchdown reception made it 20-0.
The Blue Blazes had something to cheer about when Breunig ripped off a 34-yard run to the Marshwood 29.
A 15-yard penalty for blocking in the back on first down pushed Westbrook back, but on second down Breunig got behind the secondary and scored on a 35-yard pass/run.
Two more scores before halftime put Marshwood in command.
The Hawks then used good clock management to score again seconds before the half.
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