Ponies ground and pound Old Town, 48-0
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Rain during the day and throughout the game created slick field conditions on Oakes Field for Foxcroft Academy’s 2013 home opener vs. Old Town High School on Sept. 13. While both teams had to cope with the soggy turf and slippery footballs, the Ponies used four first quarter touchdowns and a perfect defensive effort on the scoreboard all game to weather the storm and win 48-0.
After one first down on the first possession of the contest, the Foxcroft defense forced an Old Town punt. The snap ended up missing Coyote sophomore punter Pascal Cyr, who scooped up the loose pigskin and tried to run. Cyr ended up getting tackled well short of the first down as Foxcroft took over at the Old Town 38-yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage senior quarterback Hunter Law, making his 2013 debut after missing the opening victory at Hermon due to injury, handed the ball off to senior Corey Bjornson. The back found a hole in the middle of the line and he ran all the way for the touchdown. The conversion attempt failed but the Ponies were on the scoreboard 6-0 at the 8:56 mark.
The Old Town offense ended up fumbling on its next play, and Foxcroft recovered at the Coyote-34. Three plays later Law scored on a quarterback sneak for the second touchdown in less than a minute and a half.
Trailing 12-0 and looking to get back into the game, Old Town attempted a fake punt from the team’s own 41-yard line but the ball ended up falling to the turf. A pile of players laid on the field well short of the first down marker as a recovery would have done the Coyotes no good.
With the ball at the opposition’s 35, Law dropped back to pass and he spied sophomore Hunter Smith down the right sideline. Smith made the grab ahead of the defensive back and he ran in for the score. Smith and Law would connect for three receptions and 92 yards, including the 35-yard touchdown.
Junior Peter Boyer then ran the ball in for two and a 20-0 advantage, as just over six and a half minutes of the opening quarter had elapsed.
On the ensuing possession the Coyote offense again could not get anything going and punted with the ball at the team’s own 27. Smith’s return then gave the Ponies field position inside the 50 at the Old Town-43.
On first down Bjornson found a hole in the defense and he nearly crossed the goal line, being knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Law then snuck in for the fourth Foxcroft touchdown of the first quarter. A Boyer rush made the score 28-0.
Boyer later got into the end zone for six points instead of two, as in the second quarter he scored on a one-yard run to extend the Pony lead to 34-0. Boyer and Bjornson each had a big night, with Boyer picking up 125 yards on 17 carries and Bjornson rushing for 197 yards on just eight attempts.
The running back tandem would each score their second touchdowns of the game in the third quarter. Boyer’s came from 19 yards out as the Ponies used 12 plays to march 60 yards on the first possession of the second half, and use up over five minutes of clock.
At the end of the third quarter Foxcroft took over at the team’s own 34 after stopping Old Town shy of the first down on a fourth-and-8. On first down Bjornson took the handoff and ran right for what looked to be last play of the third. He got through the defensive line and linebackers and accelerated away from the rest of the Coyote defense to run 76 yards for the touchdown and final points of the 48-0 victory.
Old Town dropped to 1-1 with the loss. The game was the first between the two programs at the varsity level since 2010, when the Coyotes spent the last of three years in the old Class C East in the three-class system before moving back up to Class B in 2011 and 2012.
Foxcroft will be in action next on Friday, Sept. 20 when the Ponies host Belfast Area High School (1-1). The Lions are a former annual preseason opponent of Foxcroft, with the last exhibition meeting between the two taking place in 2009 and Belfast last appearing at Oakes Field in 2008.