LIVERMORE FALLS
Any opening-game jitters quickly disappeared and those penalties and occasional turnovers were just annoyances as Spruce Mountain rolled out the red carpet at Griffin Field with a 59-14 victory over Freeport in a Western Maine Class C high school football game on a balmy Friday evening.
The Phoenix lost five yards on their opening play of the season, but just seconds later Spruce Mountain scored when Andrew Darling took a pitch from quarterback Peter Theriault and raced in with a 57-yard touchdown at 10:04. Matt Vigue topped it off with a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Vigue was a regular visitor in the end zone. He scored three touchdowns and put together four conversions to wrack up 26 points.
“They played very tough against Morse and they play a very complex defense,” Spruce Mountain coach Walter Polky of the Falcons. “We planned to play our style and we are lucky enough that we did.
“We still made a lot of mistakes out there and there were a lot of corrections. We have to keep getting better and better week by week because this game is not defining our season. We have got to keep working and keep our eyes on the prize.”
Polky’s team also capitalized on Freeport’s mistakes. A perfect example was when Spruce Mountain capitalized on a recovered fumble on the 4-yard line and Vigue took it across the goal line from there.
By the end of first quarter, the Phoenix had built a 24-0 lead as Vigue scored again and made another two-point conversion work for Spruce Mountain.
In the second quarter, Freeport got one on the board when quarterback Eli Fox connected with Nathaniel Cyr for a 32-yard touchdown pass. But that’s when the Phoenix binged with four more touchdowns. Vigue scored on a 20-yard rush, and quarterback Peter Theriault reeled off a 47-yard TD pass to Deonte Ring. Caulin Parker also scored from the 32 and Theriault made the extra point with a fine kick. Austin Darling brought home a 45-yard punt return and Theriault booted another extra point to make it 52-12.
Andrew Darling topped of the victory with his second touchdown with a 32-yard touchdown.
Freeport is 0-1 and hosts Gray-New Gloucester on Saturday at Pownal Recreational Field. Kick-off is slated for 1:30 p.m.
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