Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper is starting to look like a genius for his use of Scott Proudman as a tailback.

“He showed up this summer and he was actually a quarterback fighting against my spot,” says Scots quarterback Ryan Walker. “Coach had a good idea just using him as a running back; it’s working out real well.”

That’s an understatement.

Proudman rushed for 123 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Scots past the Windham Eagles, 35-10, Friday night.

“Right now he’s turning into a phenomenal runner,” says Cooper. “When we can have him back there it just opens up other guys.”

Both teams fought hard in the first quarter and were unable to score. Bonny Eagle came close with a first and goal from the 9. Stanley Watts rumbled toward the end zone but lost control of the ball and Windham recovered the fumble in the end zone.

The Eagles appeared on the verge of scoring when Travis Guerrette scampered 43 yards into Scots territory. But on fourth and long, Anthony Atkins sacked Guerrette for a loss to give Bonny Eagle the ball.

On the next Windham possession, Ben Delcourt intercepted a pass from Guerrette. On the very next play, Proudman got loose. Streaking toward the goal line, he broke a tackle at the 20 and scored his first touchdown of the game. After the extra point, Cooper’s boys led, 7-0.

“He’s definitely agile,” Walker said of Proudman. “He’s extremely quick and fast he’s everything you need.”

David Ingraham returned the ensuing kickoff 61 yards down to the Bonny Eagle 12-yard line. After two small gains brought the Eagles to the 6, they had to bring out Dylan O’Connor to attempt a field goal. O’Connor, who also plays for the Windham soccer team, knocked the 23-yard attempt through the uprights to cut the Bonny Eagle lead to four.

The Scots began their next drive from their own 20-yard line. Walker led them down the field with 51 passing yards until Proudman busted through the middle for a 10-yard touchdown run. That gave the Scots a little breathing room, 14-3.

“Ryan Walker executed that two-minute drill to perfection,” said Cooper. “He’s calm, he’s collected, our kids are confident in him and they’re confident in what our receivers can do in the last two minutes.”

Bonny Eagle added another touchdown late in the third quarter when Walker took it himself from the nine-yard line to cap a drive that began on the Windham 40.

“We caught them in a bit of an adjustment to that offensive set,” Cooper said. “We thought they were widening out so we decided to go up the middle with our quarterback. Ryan made a nice run and our offensive line blocked well.”

Proudman’s third touchdown came early in the fourth. After a 35-yard strike to Delcourt, Proudman danced around the line into the end zone. That brought the score to 28-3, in favor of the Scots.

Proudman’s fourth score came midway through the final quarter when he broke through the middle for a 34-yard touchdown run.

“Our offensive line has really come a long way,” says Cooper. “We don’t have a lot of big guys, they’re really athletic, and they’re also extremely intelligent. They’re making a lot of adjustments on the run; we really feel that whatever a defense can throw at us we’re ready to adjust to it.”

The Eagles finally got into the end zone late in the game. They began pounding the ball up the middle with Ingraham. He gained 37 of his 57 total rushing yards on that drive. The final yards came on a 7-yard touchdown run. O’Connor hit the point after for a score of 35-10.

“We’ve got a JV kid (Ingraham) at running back who’s done a great job,” said Eagles coach Matt Perkins. “He’s just one of the biggest-hearted kids we have, he’s tough.”

With the win, the Scots improve to 3-0 as their title defense continues against Portland (1-2). Windham drops to 1-2 and will face Gorham (3-0) this week looking to make up for this loss.

“We have the talent and we have the players,” says Perkins. “They’ve just got to believe in themselves.”