SOUTH BERWICK — Deering High quarterback/safety/kicker Tavian Lauture had already done about every physical thing one could expect from a football player.

Then, Deering Coach Brendan Scully asked Lauture to do one more thing in the Rams’ emphatic 35-8 Class B South win Friday at Marshwood.

“At one point he actually did some coaching,” Scully said. “I put out a formation and said, ‘call whatever you want for a series,’ and he called the plays. I think I helped him with one, but he called like six or eight plays. We were in a good spot in the game and he’s just very smart. We’re in each others’ heads and know what each other are thinking.”

For a second straight year, Deering went to South Berwick and beat the Hawks in the season opener.

Last year’s 17-7 win was a surprise, in large part because Marshwood has been a Class B power, winning six of seven state titles from 2014-21.

This time, there was little doubt. Deering dominated from the get-go.

“I think we knew we were coming into this game knowing we were winning. We had a lot of confidence,” Lauture said. “But it for sure boosts our confidence a little bit more. We’re just on to Week 2 now.”

On offense, Lauture completed 5 of 12 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a team-high 88 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, he intercepted two passes to halt Marshwood’s first two possessions and set up Deering’s first two touchdowns. As a kicker, he nailed a 41-yard field goal and put several kickoffs into the end zone.

Joey Foley (15 carries, 69 yards) got the first score on a 6-yard run. Then it was Lauture bulling in from the 7 on the final play of the first quarter for a 12-0 lead. Lauture set up his touchdown with a 41-yard rollout pass on third-and-16 that Zeke Dewever stretched out to haul in.

Before the half was done, Lauture had added a field goal – one play after his 36-yard make was nullified by a penalty – and had thrown a 36-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jamal just 40 seconds before the half, putting Deering ahead 22-0 at the break. Deering’s point guard in basketball, Jamal, a senior, is new to football.

“The fade ball to Justin Jamal was (a favorite play),” Lauture said. “He’s a new guy we got out here and I told him I’d get him one today.”

Jamal’s score was set up by Marshwood’s fourth of five turnovers.

“You can’t win a game with four turnovers, and we had four in the first half,” said Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko.

In the second half, Marshwood cut the deficit to 22-8 when Landon Waterman broke a tackle after catching a short pass from Tyler Hussey and turned it into a 63-yard TD, which was followed by Ryan Essex’s 2-point conversion.

After Marshwood’s defense forced a punt, the Hawks reached Deering territory, only to have a 14-yard run by Waterman negated by an illegal downfield block. On the next two plays, Dewever sacked Hussey and then Foley sliced through from his linebacker position to throw Essex for a 5-yard loss, ending the threat.

“Again, we were our own worst enemy. … After we scored, we had a little bit of a drive going and we had a penalty to set us back,” Rotsko said.

Any glimmer of hope Marshwood had was gone entirely when the punt snap sailed high and Deering took over at the Hawks’ 26.

Dewever gained 16 yards on two runs, and Lauture completed a 10-yard TD pass to Corbin Burke.

On Marshwood’s next offensive play, another bad snap sailed over Hussey’s head and rolled near the goal line. Dewever eventually picked it up at the 1 and barreled in for the game’s final score.

“I went in for the pass rush and saw it go over the quarterback’s head, saw it bobbling around a little bit, and I just picked it up and jumped in the end zone. Got my first varsity touchdown,” said Dewever, who added two sacks.