STANDISH — Scarborough High football coach Lance Johnson felt his team became forgotten after a Week 3 loss to Thornton Academy.
No more.
The Red Storm stunned Bonny Eagle with big play after big play Friday night and ended the Scots’ 18-game winning streak with a 35-14 victory.
They won it by scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the second half.
Scarborough, Bonny Eagle and Thornton all finished 7-1 in the regular season. Scarborough will be No. 1 in the Class A South Heal point standings, earning one of the two byes in the playoffs that begin next week.
The result of the South Portland-Portland game Saturday will determine the No. 2 seed. If Portland wins, Bonny Eagle will be No. 2; if South Portland wins, Thornton will get it.
To create this confusion, Scarborough had to come through, a daunting task considering Bonny Eagle routed each opponent, including Thornton, which beat Scarborough 32-28 in Week 3.
“We had a little slip-up and I think everyone kind of forgot about us,” Johnson said. “Our kids wanted to come out and prove a point.”
The Red Storm scored five touchdowns, none shorter than 40 yards.
Zoltan Panyi completed only three passes, all for touchdowns, of 74 and 86 yards to Reece Lagerquist, and 40 yards to Jarett Flaker, who also broke free for a 77-yard touchdown run. Owen Garrard scored on a 40-yard run.
“When they have 70- and 80-yard touchdown plays, it’s going to be tough to win,” Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper said. “Tonight we were outcoached and outplayed by a better squad.”
Bonny Eagle was hobbled when its leading rusher, Alex Sprague, left after the first series with a leg injury, and flanker Christian Napolitano left with a shoulder injury early in the second half. They were the Scots’ two best outside running threats.
“Injuries happen in football and you have to be able to overcome them,” Cooper said.
Scots quarterback Connor Sirois accounted for more than two-thirds of the offense with 110 yards passing and 104 rushing.
But Bonny Eagle, which averaged 54 points a game, could do little against Scarborough’s swarming defense.
“We’re a really fast team and we just flew around and swarmed to the ball,” said Lagerquist, who also played linebacker alongside Garrard, behind a front of Anthony Griffin, Jared Nelson, Alex Bryer, Sean Shackford and Jake Piispanen.
Lagerquist scored on the third play, catching Panyi’s lob down the right sideline and not breaking stride for a 74-yard score. Zach Klein of the Scots blocked the extra point and the Red Storm led, 6-0.
Bonny Eagle quickly drove 61 yards in five plays, capped by Sirois’ 39-yard pass to Sprague. Napolitano kicked the extra point for a 7-6 lead, but Sprague came limping off.
The Scots committed the first of their three turnovers, fumbling a punt. On Scarborough’s first play, Panyi hit Flaker on a post pattern for a 13-7 lead.
Near the end of the half, the Scots drove 53 yards – Sirois scoring from the 5 – for a 14-13 halftime advantage.
Scarborough dominated the second half, scoring on its first two plays – Flaker’s run and another long pass to Lagerquist. Bonny Eagle’s first three possessions ended in two punts and a Lagerquist interception. Garrard’s 40-yard run gave the Red Storm a 35-14 lead with 10:45 left.
Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or:
kthomas@pressherald.com
Twitter: @KevinThomasPPH
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