SACO — The Thornton Academy Golden Trojans came into Saturday’s game with Cheverus riding high after a 49-0 shutout of Sanford in Week 1.

The Trojans’ offense once again put some gaudy numbers on the scoreboard and the TA defense pushed its shutout streak to two with a 57-0 victory over the Stags at Hill Stadium.

“Our kids did a great job,” said Thornton Academy coach Kevin Kezal. “They had a great week of practice, they worked their tails off and they came out and played their hearts out.”

In their second straight shutout, the Trojans’ defense allowed just two first downs in the first half and came up with several sacks and tackles for loss.

With their defense stepping up and shutting down the Stags, the TA offense kept up their end of the bargain – led by the powerful running of Greg Ruff.

Ruff, who led the Trojans with 158 yards and four scores on just 11 carries, put TA on the board with a three-yard scoring run at the 7:09 mark of the first quarter.

TA would go up 14-0 just a few minutes later when senior quarterback Austin McCrum hit Ben Lambert on a 30-yard scoring strike.

Ruff and Michael Laverriere would add touchdown runs in the second quarter as the Trojans, who went for two once in the first half, would take a 29-0 lead at the break.

Thornton would go right back to Ruff in the third quarter and the senior running back would continue to roll over defenders. Ruff scored his third TD of the game just over a minute into the third quarter to make it a 36-0 advantage.

TA’s defense got into the scoring act in the third as well with Laverriere picking off a Cheverus pass and returning it to the house with 7:29 left in the third. Trojans kicker Cam Cadorette nailed one of his seven extra points to make it 43-0.

Lambert added his second score of the game just a few minutes later when he took a jet sweep and sprinted 52 yards to pay dirt, which made it 50-0.

Ruff would put the exclamation point on the day with an impressive 75-yard touchdown run, which included one big stiff-arm on a Cheverus defender, and put the Trojans up 57-0 with just 13 seconds left in the third.

“It’s the greatest feeling … there is nothing better,” said Ruff on breaking tackles with a stiff-arm.

The ability to break tackles and gain yards after contact is something that Ruff says is important to his game.

“I just try to get as many yards as possible because you never know when one yard could be the difference between a first down and not getting a first down. I just like to keep driving and never stop,” said Ruff.

Kezal is happy to have players like Ruff and Laverriere, who finished with 84 yards on just eight carries, leading his rushing attack.

“Greg and Michael compliment each other very well,” said Kezal. “We are fortunate to have two guys like that. They are kind of the same backs … they both run hard, they have decent speed and they finish their runs and are physical.”

The win over the Stags was important to the Trojans after Cheverus kept them from a perfect season last year.

“We just came out ready to play. Cheverus is a great team, they beat us down the past two years. We just got tired of losing, so we worked hard all week in practice and did our work during the game,” said Ruff.

Kezal gave credit to his defense, which was prepared for the Stags’ offensive attack.

“We talked about how you have to play with great effort, but you have to play with great discipline with these guys. You have to know what plays you have to stop and read your keys because they do such a great job with their misdirection and guard pulls,” said Kezal.

The Trojans will look to continue their impressive start on Friday night when they visit Deering.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.