GRAY

The Freeport High School football team dropped a 36-0 decision Friday night when it visited Gray- New Gloucester in a Class C South game.

The Falcons had some chances, with a couple of early drives that ended inside the 20-yard line, failing to convert on fourth down.

“We’re taking strides in the right direction,” Falcons coach Paul St. Pierre said. “The scores aren’t reflecting the hard work we’re putting in. Out of 26 guys, only 11 played last season.”

Gray-New Gloucester (3-0) got things started with a 1-yard run by Austin Chase, one of his four touchdowns on the night. Chase ran for 210 yards on 27 carries.

“Gray-New Gloucester is off to a great start,” St. Pierre said. “They’re ready to play this year and they brought it tonight. I’m proud of my guys, but we have to play every single play, if you take one play off a team like this will burn you.”

Chase added his second touchdown when he took it in from 5- yards out, and a run by quarterback Jaycob Sanborn gave them the 2-point conversion making it 14-0 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.

The Falcons (0-3) coughed the ball up on the following drive, but a Patriots pass on first down was intercepted by Brady LaFrance, giving Freeport the ball right back.

“Brady’s one of our senior captains and rightfully so,” St. Pierre said. “He has big play-making abilities. He fights all day and gives everything he has.”

After a pass interference penalty and 30-yard pass from Eli Fox to LaFrance, the Falcons had a firstand goal from the 7-yard line. Fox went 8-of-21 through the air, throwing for 98 yards, with every completion going to LaFrance. However, a run for a loss and three straight incompletions ended the drive, and Chase and the Patriots answered on the next series with the former carrying a 4-yard TD run to make it 20-0 with 5:16 remaining in the half.

The Falcons refused to go down easy, finding their way back to the Gray-NG 12-yard line after a penalty and another Fox to LaFrance combination for 23 yards.

“Eli has been doing great,” St. Pierre said of his quarterback. “He can throw the ball pretty well when he has some time. He’s never been asked to be a pocket passer before, so it’s kind of a whole new role for him, but I think he’s doing well.”

Another run for a loss and three incompletions later, Freeport turned the ball over on downs in the red zone for the second straight drive.

“If we could have just put in one or two of those for touchdowns down in the red zone,” St. Pierre said. “It’s just one of those things where we’re moving the ball well but we just have to finish, we have to finish our plays. A little bit of it’s lack of experience, but every week we’ll get better.”

The third quarter started with both teams moving the ball on their opening drives, but they ended in punts. On the Patriots’ third drive of the frame, Chase found and seam and took it into the end zone on a 46-yard run to make it 28-0 after a successful 2-point conversion from Sanborn to Zack Haskell.

Freeport’s offense found it difficult to get much going and just a couple drives later Fox had the shotgun snap go over his head for a safety with 8:58 left in the game. On the ensuing kick, Haskell ran it back for a 55-yard TD return, making it 36-0. Haskell also had 138 yards on nine touches, helping set up Chase’s scores.

Max Doughty contributed for the Falcons, rushing for 53 yards on nine carries.

“The guys have to just keep trying hard and eventually it’s going to go our way,” said St. Pierre, whose Falcons host undefeated Cape Elizabeth this upcoming Saturday at 1:30 p.m. “Let’s just keep pushing and not give up, I know I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep pushing these guys and find out what we do best, watch film and see what we do well and what we don’t, and hopefully fix the bad things and work on the good things. We’re not going to give up, I’ll tell you that.”

Gray-New Gloucester 36,
Freeport 0

Friday at Gray-New Gloucester
Freeport— 0000— 0
Gray-NG—14688—36
First quarter
G-NG — Austin Chase 1 run (run failed), 6:20.
G-NG — Austin Chase 5 run (Jaycob Sanborn
run), 1:36.
Second quarter
G-NG — Austin Chase 4 run (pass failed), 5:16.
Third quarter
G-NG — Austin Chase 46 run (Zack Haskell
pass from Jaycob Sanborn), 3:01.
Fourth quarter
G-NG — Freeport Safety, 8:58.
G-NG — Zack Haskell 55 punt return (pass
failed), 8:39.
Records — Gray-New Gloucester 3-0, Freeport
0-3.
Up next for the Falcons — Saturday at home
against Cape Elizabeth, 1:30 p.m.