KITTERY – Traip Academy got its one big play. Freeport’s was halted by a whistle.

Devon Draker broke a 37-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, Matt Clifford kicked the extra point, and that was the only time either defense was penetrated for a score in Traip’s 7-0 football victory Saturday.

Both Class C teams left sun-bathed Memorial Field with 4-2 records and respect for their opponents’ ability to play hard-nosed football.

“These guys had really good defense, so we had to make one of those plays that was really big and it could kind of deteriorate their confidence,” Draker said.

Traip had a chance to pad its lead in the fourth quarter, but Matt Clifford’s 21-yard field-goal attempt stayed just to the right of the goal post with 5:47 to play.

After a pass interference call, Luke Lamagna of Freeport broke a counter play outside, then shook off a shirt-grabbing tackle attempt along the sideline. Just as Lamagna appeared to have a free lane to the end zone, he was whistled for stepping out of bounds.

“It was a 22 trap. We knew that it was there and unfortunately (the ref) saw the wrong foot,” Freeport Coach Rob Grover said. “I don’t normally talk bad about the refs, but he happened to see the wrong foot.”

Still, Lamagna’s run was good for 26 yards and put Freeport in Traip territory. But three incomplete passes and an ineligible receiver penalty on a would-be first-down pass from James Purdy to Jared Knighton ended the threat. Purdy was 1 for 12, in large part because of Clifford’s one-on-one coverage of Chris Farley.

“Wow. We shut down their top receiver. That kid is probably the best receiver in the league and Matt Clifford shut him down. What a game he had,” Traip Coach Ron Ross said.

Clifford also gained 65 yards on eight carries and completed 4 of 10 passes for 52 yards.

Traip took over and ran out the final 4:29, with Clifford ending the game by taking a knee at the Freeport 1. On that drive, Cory Aldecoa, who spent his sophomore season at Freeport, gained 53 of his 78 rushing yards.

“I know most of them on the team and it’s fun to play against them, old teammates and old friends. It was a really good game. They put up a really good fight,” Aldecoa said.

The teams combined for just 128 yards on 48 offensive plays in the first half. Freeport used a six-man front that freed linebackers Dan Burke and Scott Collins to focus on shutting down Rangers fullback Tyler Nay (13 carries, 42 yards).

Prior to Draker’s run, Nay made his impact by catching a Clifford pass, shucking a would-be tackler and turning it into a 20-yard gain, then pushing the pile on three straight carries.

“They were sending two backers to our big fullback and we made the adjustments and were moving the ball,” Ross said.

Freeport’s defense twice stopped Traip from scoring inside its 10, but the Rangers had large second-half advantages in plays (38 to 13) and yardage (224 to 40).