KITTERY — Running behind its huge offensive line, Maranacook rushed for more than 200 yards and scored twice in the fourth quarter on its way to a 14-0 win over Traip Academy in a Class D South football game Saturday.

Maranacook’s offensive line includes three players over 300 pounds. The Black Bears (2-0) take advantage of their big line by using the double-wing formation, a switch from the I-formation Coach Joe Emery employed in his first eight years as head coach.

“I didn’t have an I tailback last year, so we had to come up with an offense. So I got a bunch of huge kids and two or three small speedy backs,” said Emery. “There’s no gaps, you’re toe-to-toe, so you need to be able to push (defenders) out of the way. It works really well in inclement weather. If you can’t pass the ball – we’re going to win a lot of those games.”

Maranacook has a big quarterback, Kyle Morand (6-foot-1, 214 pounds), who becomes an extra blocker after handoffs.

“You have to have a blocking QB in the double wing,” Emery said. “He goes up and gets the corner every play. Kyle is a senior, he works so hard in the offseason. He’s just such a great kid to coach.”

Morand switched from quarterback to fullback last season because that was a better fit for his skill set. When the quarterback job opened this fall, it made sense for Morand to switch back.

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“I just hand the ball off and block; it works well for us,” said Morand. “It’s what I like to do and it’s fun.”

The game was scoreless through three quarters, as both teams played stout defense. But Traip (1-2) turned the ball over on downs at the Maranacook 47 late in the third quarter, and Maranacook took advantage of its good field position.

“I should have punted,” said Traip Coach Ron Ross. “(I) gave them good field position over there, but I thought we could get a yard.”

The Black Bears methodically took the ball down to the Traip 6, and wing back Zach Lacasse scored untouched from there on a run up the middle just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Levi Emery ran in the 2-point conversion to give Maranacook an 8-0 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Traip faced third-and-long from the 21 when quarterback Angelo Succi fired a pass across the middle. The ball hit Emery’s shoulder and popped into the air, and he located in time to complete the interception. He returned it to the 3, setting up a Drew Davis touchdown run.

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“We can’t hang our heads low,” said Ross. “(Maranacook is) a better team than us, so I’m proud of the way we played.”

Traip won the coin flip and reached the Maranacook 4 on the opening drive before a holding penalty stalled the 14-play, 66-yard drive that lasted six minutes.

“We had a lot of penalties that killed our drives,” said Ross.

Maranacook followed that up with a long drive of its own, marching 67 yards on 17 plays, but also turned the ball over on downs after holding the ball for more than eight minutes.


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