BRUNSWICK — Will Bessey ran 54 yards for a touchdown on the first play and top-ranked Brunswick never let up Friday night in a 40-0 victory against fourth-seeded Mt. Blue in a Class B North semifinal.
Bessey rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries, and added a 24-yard reception.
The Dragons (8-1) will be home against third-seeded Brewer (9-1) in the regional final next Friday night.
“That’s an awfully good football team over there. We didn’t play well and they did,” Mt. Blue Coach Jim Aylward said. “Will Bessey is a terrific back. That being said, every one of his linemen should get their name in the paper – they’re terrific. I thought they beat us up on the line.
“Somebody is going to have to play great football to beat them this year.”
Brunswick finished with 293 yards rushing and 346 total yards, with Thomas Hanson completing 3 of 6 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half. He also had a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
Mt. Blue struggled to get anything going offensively. The Cougars, who scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute to register a 35-34 victory against fifth-ranked Cony last week, were limited to 149 yards and turned the ball over five times. Christian Whitney led Mt. Blue with 66 yards rushing on 23 carries.
“When you score on the first play of the game, you could see a little bit of the air come out of their balloon,” Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper said. “We just kept pouring it on. The defense played great and kept the pressure on them.”
Thanks to the play of Bessey and his offensive line, the Dragons maintained that pressure throughout the first half and took a 26-0 halftime lead.
“It got the momentum going in our favor,” Bessey said, “and we just kept it going from there.”
Brunswick made sure not to give the Cougars any hope in the second half, particularly after what Mt. Blue did to Cony in the quarterfinals.
The Cougars trailed by 20 points at halftime in that game before completing an improbably comeback.
“I told them the score was 0-0,” Cooper said. “Until I take you out of the game, it’s 0-0 and play that way.”
Mt. Blue – which lost its starting quarterback, Ryan Pratt, to a left arm injury late in the second quarter – fumbled the ball away deep in its own territory after three plays of the second half.
Bessey, who recovered the fumble, did the rest and ran it into the end zone from 2 yards two plays later.
Bessey added his fourth touchdown with 3:14 to go in the third quarter, making it 40-0 after plunging in from 1 yard after a 29-yard interception return from Hunter Garrett.
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