WINDHAM — Late in the first quarter, with Bangor threatening to tie the game, the Windham High defense was put to the test.
The Eagles stopped Bangor on four plays from the 1, then weren’t threatened again Friday night, scoring a 42-0 victory in a Class A North football game.
Kyle Houser of Windham ran 29 yards on the play after the goal-line stand, starting a drive that was capped by Houser’s 30-yard touchdown run that made it 13-0.
How much did the Eagles dominate? Even a bungled point-after attempt turned into a 2-point conversion.
Houser scored two touchdowns and finished with 186 yards on 17 carries for Windham (2-0). Griffin Jacobson added three touchdowns and 107 yards on 10 carries.
The Eagles were playing their first game without their No. 1 running back, Dylan Koza, who suffered a broken leg in the opener last week against Lewiston and is out for the season.
The team draped Koza’s No. 25 jersey on the bench. In his absence, Houser and Jacobson came together.
“Next man up is one of our mottos,” said Houser.
“We feel for Dylan and wished he was here,” said Coach Matt Perkins. “He’s a high character guy. The team dug in without him. The line created holes for Kyle and Griffin and got up the field. I was very impressed with the blocking. Well done.”
Windham’s goal-line defense late in the first quarter shifted the momentum. Bangor (0-2) drove from its 38 to the 1 on the running of tailback Dane Johnson, who broke off runs of 14 and 16 yards to bring the ball to the 1 with Windham leading 7-0.
On first down, Johnson was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Quarterback Jeff Lewis lost 2 yards on second down. Johnson was then tackled by Pat Leavitt and Houser for minus-2 yards, also suffered an injury. On fourth down, he got the ball again and gained two yards with Windham taking over inside the 5.
Johnson didn’t return for the remainder of the half. At halftime he was wearing a sling on his right shoulder.
“He’s a great back,” said Houser of Johnson.
A blocked punt by Tanner Bernier early in the game gave the Eagles the ball at the Bangor 34. Jacobson soon broke off a long run and moments later scored from the 4.
Then came the goal-line stand, followed by Houser ripping off some long runs. Soon the Eagles led 15-0. Early in the second period, Eric Webb fielded a Bangor punt at the 40, reversed field and scored to make it 21-0.
“That’s a new defense we put in this week and the players did a great job executing it, and the coaches did a great job teaching it,” said Perkins.
Jacobson bolted straight up the middle for a 52-yard score on Windham’s next possession to make it 28-0 at the half.
Windham took the second-half kickoff and went 53 yards in five plays with Houser accounting for 47.
Jacobson scored from the 6 on second down to make it 35-0.
Houser scored on an 11-yard run with 2:49 left in the third period for the final points.
“Kyle and Griff are very unselfish,” said Perkins. “Griff blocks for Kyle and when we switch formations, Kyle blocks for Griff.”
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