Thornton Academy 28

Gorham 16

Last year the Thornton Academy football team was one of the top teams in the state. On Saturday, the Trojans served notice that they plan to be at or near the top again this season with a convincing 28-16 home win over Gorham in the final preseason scrimmage.

Thornton’s top unit looked in control from the start. The first defense bent but didn’t break on Gorham’s first drive of the game and handed the Trojans’ offense the ball near midfield. Two plays later, Steve Trask got loose around the left side and ran for a 49-yard touchdown. Alex Howard added the point after for a 7-0 Thornton lead.

Early in the second quarter, the Thornton defense forced Gorham to punt. It was the Rams’ second possession of the day and the second time they came away with no points. The Trojans took over at their own 28 yard line and 11 plays later found the end zone again. Mark Reaser and Trask did the bulk of the work as Thornton kept the chains moving on a five-minute drive. Reaser finally scored from two yards out. Howard’s second kick was good and it was a 14-0 lead.

As the first half ticked away, Gorham found themselves mired in their own territory. As time ran out, Tim Grose picked off a pass and ran it back 40 yards for another Trojan touchdown. The extra point was no good, but Thortnon took a 20-0 lead into the locker room.

“Timmy’s a great pick up for us,” said Thornton head coach Kevin Kezal. “Timmy’s a transfer from Biddeford actually. He transferred over the winter. He’s a good lacrosse player and a good football player. He’s going to have a nice year for us. We’re glad we’ve got him.”

Gorham returned to the field in the second half on a mission. On the fourth play of the second half, Matt Walrath slipped around the right side of Thornton’s number two defense and scampered 25 yards for the score. The two-point conversion was successful and Thornton’s lead was 20-8.

After a quick Thornton drive that went nowhere, the Rams took all of one play to find the end zone again. Another two-point conversion cut the Thornton lead down to 20-16.

After the Gorham touchdown, the Trojans’ number two offense worked to kill the clock and eat up some yards. Justin Nezol and Chad Harvey shouldered the load and ran roughshod over Gorham’s second defense.

“Chad’s a pretty talented kid,” said Kezal. “He is a good track runner. He’s quick and obviously he does a nice job on that wide zone. He’s been in our rotation for a while. He’s a good player and he had a good second half.”

Late in the fourth, Josh Woodward scored an insurance touchdown for the Trojans on a play from three yards out. Woodward faked a handoff to Nezol and took it himself. A two-point conversion made it 28-16.

With the preseason now over, both Gorham and Thornton Academy turn their attention to their week one opponents. The Rams will take on South Portland at home on Friday night. The Trojans will host Sanford on Saturday after a strong preseason.

“We’ve had a good preseason,” Kezal said. “Number one, we came out of it healthy, that’s the biggest thing. Last year we couldn’t say that. The kids have worked hard. I thought we came out and executed well today. We didn’t have to burn timeouts to get the right people on the field for special teams and things like that. We did a nice job executing and getting our special teams on the field and the kids showed pretty good poise being out here for the first time.”