Football: Bonny Eagle can't keep up with Scarborough

SCARBOROUGH—The Scots couldn’t keep pace on the road at the Red Storm on Friday night, Oct. 19: Despite strong performances from a number of key players – including Keegan Meredith, Will Whyte, Alex Dyer, Shaun Brilliant and Nate Ferris – Bonny Eagle fell behind the reigning State Champs and ultimately succumbed 48-35.

“It was a good game for the fans; probably not a great game for the coaches,” Bonny Eagle head coach Kevin Cooper said, asked about the sheer offensive output the two sides generated. “I’m sure [Scarborough head coach Lance Johnson] will tell his guys that they can’t give up the amount of points they gave up tonight and hope to win a championship.”

“Both teams have gotta get better on defense; both teams are good offensive teams – we’ve got good offensive players,” Cooper said.

The Scots got on the board first, when Whyte, at runningback, broke away from the pack, barreled up the right side of the field and dragged a wannabe Scarborough tackler over the goal line. The play was a 65-yarder. Whyte added the PAT as well, making it 7-0.

On the first play of the ensuing series, though, Scarborough roared back. Jarrett Flaker – well-known as The Fastest Kid in the State – snatched up the ball and broke away for a long scoring play of his own, a 63-yarder. Suddenly, the game stood 7-7, and all Bonny Eagle’s early momentum went out the window.

The Storm surged ahead through the remainder of the first quarter. QB Keegan Meredith hurled an interception on the Scots’ next possession – Meredith threw two INTs on the night, but he also completed a lot of big passes – and Scarborough converted the turnover into a seven-yard, Tyler Gobeil rush TD. The team’s PAT attempt missed, however. 13-6.

“Our regular tight end was sick, so we decided to use four wide receivers and throw it a little bit,” Cooper said of the choice to let Meredith get a little trigger happy. “Keegan, he can throw it. We have good skill guys, and I thought our guys did a great job with the passing game tonight.”

The Storm forced Bonny Eagle to punt on their next drive, then turned around and scored yet again, QB Chase Cleary hitting Gobeil for a 19-yard passing touchdown. Gobeil followed the play up with a successful two-point conversion for 21-7.

Bonny Eagle struck early in the second to claw closer: Meredith hit Whyte for a 19-yard pass play to start things off; soon enough, he hit Dyer for a 28-yard pass TD to close the series. Whyte added the PAT, 21-14. Scarborough responded quickly, Thomas Galeckas recording a one-yard rush tally and Zach Alofs kicking an extra point to set the board at 28-14.

Cooper nodded at a handful of his boys: “Protection-wise, our line did a great job at the beginning of the game,” he said. “They kind of got tired at the end and gave up some pressures, but our offensive line battled in there against a big, quality opponent. So it was a good job by them, giving Keegan time to throw.”

With the first half winding down, the Scots began to battle back once more: Meredith, with 11- and 4-yard runs, as well as a 20-yard hookup with Ferris, spearheaded a drive to Scarborough’s 13. Whyte picked up six yards from there for first and goal at the Storm seven, and Meredith hit Ferris for six points after that. Whyte, naturally, added the kick. 28-21 at the half.

In the third, Bonny Eagle continued their effort to even things out. Merdith hit Dyer for a 30-yarder to start the quarter, pushing his boys to first and 10 at the Scarborough 47. He hit Ferris for three, then ran for six himself; finally, he found Brilliant for a 39-yard pass TD. Another Whyte kick made it 28-28.

“Our kids battled,” Cooper said. “To be able to come back and tie up the football game like that, I thought was pretty awesome. The drive right before the end of the first half – I can’t ask our guys to do anything more. Very happy with that.”

But the Storm pulled ahead again as the second half wore on: Robert Cleary scored next for the team, on a 14-yard pass from Chase Cleary; Galeckas then added another sixer on another one-yard run: 42-28.

Meredith found Brilliant once more in the early fourth, the duo teaming up for a 25-yard pass TD, but it proved too little, too late for BE. Flaker capped the evening’s offense with another Scarborough notch, a 10-yard run. 48-35 the final.

“We’ve got to go back, find a way to play a little bit better on defense, coach a little bit better on defense,” Cooper said. “Hopefully get [Scarborough] in a couple weeks.”

Bonny Eagle closes their regular season at 5-3, ranked third in A South. The Scots will face No. 6 Massabesic in the bracketing quarters at home on Friday, Oct. 26.

BE has dropped each of their last three games, after starting the autumn 5-0. Their opponents, these last few weeks, however, have been Oxford Hills – No. 1 in A North – as well as Thornton, No. 1 in A South, and now the Storm, No. 2 in A South.

“We’re not used to not being able to win a game for three weeks,” Cooper said. “But there’s a lot of encouraging signs. To be able to throw it like this against a good team, that’s pretty awesome. We’ve been able to run it at times. Hopefully we’ll get Zach [Maturo] back, give us a running threat at quarterback, too. Then I think we’ll be tough on offense; we’ve just gotta figure out a way to slow teams down, which we haven’t been able to do the last couple weeks.”

Maturo, who shares QB responsibilities with Meredith, is injured at present, but is expected to return.

Scarborough advances to 6-1. The Storm earn themselves a bye week through the first round of the playoffs. They’ll play again on, presumably, Nov. 2.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME.

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— Adam Birt (@CurrentSportsME) October 22, 2018