Football: Bonny Eagle marches past Lewiston, advances to tournament semis

STANDISH—Scot Jake Humphrey ran for two touchdowns and reeled in two more vs. visiting Lewiston on Friday night, Nov. 8. Standout runningback Zach Maturo ran for two TDs as well, and QB Keegan Meredith ran for one, as Bonny Eagle handily dismantled the Blue Devils 48-0.

The playoffs victory comes as no surprise; the odds heavily favored the No. 2 Scots (now 9-1) over the No. 7 Devils (2-8 as they exit 2019). When the teams met in the regular season, Bonny Eagle won hugely as well, 54-14.

At one point in that contest, though, the scoreboard balanced out at 14-14.

“I think we were a little bit more ready to go,” BE head coach Kevin Cooper said, asked what changed from the first game to the second. “We had a good first series, good on defense – much better on defense tonight than what we did in the first game. Offensively, we heard a little bit more of the pass game; I think they were a little bit more ready for our run game tonight, but our pass game obviously clicked – Keegan made some great throws. And our skill guys made plays.”

Bonny Eagle wasted little time getting on the board: following a series of Maturo and Meredith runs, as well as a Meredith pass to Maturo, Humphrey broke away on the run from third and five at the Lewiston 35 for a long running score up the right side. Cam MacDonald added the PAT and BE stood on top 7-0.

Lewiston soon turned possession over on downs, and the Scots went back to work. Maturo opened the drive with a 26-yard run to midfield; soon, Nate Ferris contributed a 35-yard dash for first and 10 at the Devils’ 11. Meredith then slid up the middle for the team’s next six points. MacDonald – surprisingly – missed on the extra point attempt, however.

Bonny Eagle went up 20-0 before the first quarter wound down. Lewiston fumbled their kickoff return and Maturo recovered; a couple downs later, Meredith hit Maturo with a bullet through the middle for a 24-yard gain. A couple downs after that, Maturo spun away from a would-be tackler and danced 20 yards up the left sideline for the score.

Lewiston’s next series ended in a punt – but a blocked punt. Bonny Eagler Nolan Davis did the diving honors, handing his boys excellent field position. The Scots jumped to 27-0 early in the second quarter, when Meredith hurled up the middle and found Humphrey alone; Humphrey zipped across the goal line and MacDonald split the uprights.

Cooper applauded especially his d-line’s work on the evening. “Our defensive line was really good tonight,” Cooper said. “From Will Horton, Eli LeBlanc, John Dugan, our three defensive lineman; Cam Gardner as our defensive end – I thought those guys really controlled the line of scrimmage, which is what we preached all week, to press the line of scrimmage. Those guys did it tonight, so kudos to them.”

The Devils took another stab on the attack after that, but it too ended in disaster. From second and 10 at Lewiston’s own 27, QB Nate Lyons threw – only for Humphrey to pick him off.

BE took over. Shortly, Maturo whirled into Devils’ hallowed ground for a TD – but a flag called the score back. No matter, as the Scots persisted and Maturo ended up with the notch anyway, leaping over the Lewiston defense on fourth and goal from about the half-yard line. MacDonald tallied another PAT: 34-0.

“Not really,” Cooper said, asked if he even had much to mop up with his boys at halftime. “We were trying to address the penalties right at the end. We played most of the first half penalty-free, and then the last couple drives, we’re getting flagged all over the place. So we were just addressing that, making sure that we played smart and did the things we needed to do to finish the game and get on to next week.”

The Scots incurred a pair of holding penalties and a pair of block-in-the-back penalties in the first half.

Humphrey scored again early in the third, breaking away on third and 10 from the Lewiston 34. Humphrey spun loose of a would-be tackler to earn the touchdown: 41-0. Hump also added the last sixer of the game, as Meredith hit him with a long pass up the middle on fourth and 15 at the Devils’ 31.

48-0 the final.

The Scots will face Scarborough in the next round of the bracketing, the semifinals. When Bonny Eagle met the Red Storm in the regular season, they triumphed 18-7 – an impressive finish, given just how good Scarborough is.

It’s usually unwise to take a team lightly – to look past a team to the next team – but surely BE must have juggled in some thoughts of the Storm as they recently gameplanned for Lewiston.

“We’ve had our eye on next week’s game,” Cooper conceded, “for a few weeks now, even though we’ve had other games to play. We’ve known [the standings were] going to work out that way. The end of the regular season, it wouldn’t have changed anything, had Scarborough beaten Thornton. It’ll be a great game – they’re a great team, they’re well-coached. It’ll be exciting.”