Heading into the 2017 Maine high school football season most people had Thursday night’s showdown between the Kennebunk Rams and Brunswick Dragons circled on their calendars.

That’s because the last time these two teams met was when Brunswick rolled to a victory over Kennebunk in the Class B state championship game last November.

The anticipation certainly dwindled heading into the clash as the Dragons came into the contest without a win, while the Rams had a perfect 4-0 record.

The host Rams proved they were still state title contenders as they cruised to a 35-0 win over the rebuilding Dragons.

Kennebunk produced in all three phases on Thursday, overwhelming the Dragons with a strong passing offense, tight defense and timely plays on special teams.

Despite a slow start, the Rams offense caught fire late in the first quarter when quarterback Tripp Bush hit Derek Smith for a 70-yard score.

Bush connected with Zack Sullivan, who pulled of the hook and lateral with Smith for a 62-yard for a score to extend the lead to 14-0 midway through the second.

The turning point of the game came with 38 seconds remaining in the half, when defensive lineman Cole Hoffman forced his way through the Brunswick line to recover a blocked punt in the Dragons endzone to set the score to 21-0 at halftime.

“We’re young (and) that Kennebunk team is very talented. We couldn’t block (Hoffman) all night. The hitch and pitch we couldn’t have defended any better, perfect throws over the top. Their athletes are good,” said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper. “That was disappointing. We felt that we had played a pretty good first half but then the score was 21-0.”

Kennebunk kept things going in the third as the Rams got a 2-yard touchdown up the gut from Dante DeLorenzo to put the game out of reach at 28-0. Bush later hit Sullivan for a 21- yard score in the fourth to secure the 35-0 win.

Kennebunk coach Joe Rafferty was pleased with his team’s offensive performance, and ability to score on big plays.

“That’s been our offense since day one. Every team has certain plays that they put in for certain situations, whether it’s trick plays, whether it’s a kickoff return late in the game, you play around with different things and we’ve had (the hook and lateral) in the offense for as long as I’ve coached,” said Rafferty.

Rafferty was also happy with his defense’s performance, especially up front. The Dragons did not record 100 yards of scrimmage until late in the fourth quarter.

“They did very well, we got a lot of pressure on the quarterback early. I thought end to end, I was very pleased with the way we played,” said Rafferty.

Bush finished the day with 166 yards passing along with 42 yards rushing. Sullivan racked up 132 yards receiving. DeLorenzo had another strong performance in place of injured Jake Littlefield, and led the Rams with 60 yards on the ground.

“Dante has been huge. I think Dante is a great inside runner, he does great on defense, he has big shoes to fill and he’s done a great job,” Rafferty said.

Jack Harvey led the Dragons with 52 yards on the ground, while Owen Richardson added 31.

Despite the loss, Cooper was happy with his team’s effort.

“We did our best to regroup, stay positive. The kids battled, the scoreboard doesn’t reflect how hard we played,” said Cooper, whose Dragons visit Lawrence next Friday at 7 p.m.