GORHAM

A win is a win.

That was the biggest takeaway from Mt. Ararat High School’s football game against Gorham on Friday — a game the Eagles thought might be far more comfortable than it was.

Injuries on offense and new faces on the field led to four turnovers and much sloppier play than coach O’Neil LaPlante is accustomed to. Thankfully, he has running back Ryan Mello.

The junior exploded for two long plays during statement drives that ultimately sent Mt. Ararat back up to Topsham with a 19-7 Class B South win.

“A win is a win,” LaPlante said. “Sometimes you win nicely, sometimes you win ugly. We’d have to classify this as maybe not the most beautiful win we’ve ever had, but we still chalk it up in the win column.”

“A win is definitely a win and it feels good, but we have a lot of stuff to work on,” Mello said. “Honestly, it shouldn’t have even been close. We’re a lot better team than that. We’ve got to play our level and not drop down.”

Mello was the workhorse for Mt. Ararat (2-1), carrying the ball 15 times and amassing 220 total yards on offense. He rushed for 25 yards on the Eagles’ first drive of the game and was called upon again when things got sloppy.

Heading into halftime, two fumbles and an interception cut three drives short and left points off the board. Even with a 12-0 lead, LaPlante called for an adjustment to be made.

It worked and it worked quickly.

On the very first play of the second half, Mello found a hole on the right and sprinted down the sideline for a 75-yard gain. Two plays later, he punched it in from 5 yards out and it was 19-0 with just 30 seconds off the clock.

“They were just overloading, so we just switched a guy over, made them take a guy off and then the hole was there,” Mello said.

“We made some basic adjustments,” LaPlante said. “Gorham had loaded up with a nine-man line on us and we knew that if we made some adjustments and went on balance to one side, that it would take the cornerback out of the picture and enable us to run off the flank. That’s how Mello got around.”

On Mt. Ararat’s second score of the night in the second quarter, it was Mello again hauling in a screen pass from quarterback Jacob O’Neill and taking it 66 yards all the way down the sideline for a touchdown. The Eagles quarterback notched 104 yards on four completions and caught a pass from Mello on a trick play in the fourth quarter.

Defensive step up

Despite the turnovers, the Mt. Ararat defense formed a wall and stopped Gorham (0- 3) from scoring for almost 45 minutes.

The Rams were forced to punt on two straight three-and-out drives to begin the game, and were stuffed for negative yardage on a fourth-down pass play on their next series.

On their first trip to the red zone late in the second frame, another fourth-down pass from quarterback Jack Niles was knocked down. In all, the Eagles forced four turnovers on downs.

“We play well defensively and that’s where we have the fewest injuries right now,” LaPlante said. “You can tell. I thought up front we did a very good job. When you have a team that throws as much as Gorham, they’re going to score. We were able to hold on and play defense when we needed to.”

Niles finished 12-of-23 for 99 yards through the air and also rushed for Gorham’s lone score (18 yards) in the fourth quarter.

The Rams came knocking again with under two minutes left to play, but fittingly, Mello (playing free safety) intercepted Niles’ final chuck of the night and iced the game for Mt. Ararat.

Robert Hetherman and Ethan Minchin were also a factor in the Eagles’ rushing attack, combining for 67 yards on 17 carries. Wide receiver Jacob Steinman had a 21-yard touchdown catch called back on a penalty. It wasn’t the only one, as Mt. Ararat committed seven penalties throughout the game. Those and the turnovers will be a focal point in practice this week for LaPlante’s squad, but as they experienced in a 37-16 loss to York last week, it feels a lot worse to lose than it does to win ugly.

“We’ve got to be disciplined. A lot to work on,” Mello said. “Nothing’s easy — you’ve got to work for everything.”

Mt. Ararat 19,
Gorham 7

Friday, at Gorham High School
Mt.Ararat—12 0 7 0 — 19
Gorham— 0 0 0 7 — 7
First quarter
MtA — Robert Hetherman 4 run
(pass failed), 6:51.
MtA — Ryan Mello 66 pass from
Jacob O’Neill (pass failed), 3:46.
Third quarter
MtA — Ryan Mello 5 run (Jacob
Steinman kick), 11:29.
Fourth quarter
G — Jack Niles 18 run (Jack Collins
kick), 4:26.
Records – Mt. Ararat 2-1, Gorham 0-
3.
Up next for the Eagles – This upcoming Friday at Falmouth, 7 p.m.