Rejuvenated Ponies eager for postseason opportunity
By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — When the Foxcroft Academy football team played Madison-Carrabec on the road nearly two months ago, the Ponies still were seeking to redefine roles in the aftermath of key preseason injuries.
Ashley L. Conti | BDN
WAY TO GO — Foxcroft Academy’s Brandon Brock (right) is congratulated by teammate Drew Dankert after scoring a touchdown against Old Town during their football game Friday night in Old Town. Old Town defeated Foxcroft 41-19.
Now, with those roles much more clearly defined, coach Danny White’s club will get a second crack at the Bulldogs in a Class C North quarterfinal set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Madison.
“I think we’re a lot different team than the last time we played them,” said White, reflecting on the Ponies’ 33-12 loss at Madison in Week 2 of the regular season. “We’ve grown up a lot. We competed with them the first time we played them but just made too many mistakes.”
Fifth-seeded Foxcroft (4-4) has won three of its last four games, averaging 39 points per outing during a stretch when its only defeat came at undefeated and defending Class C state champion Winslow.
The Ponies capped off their regular season with a 46-13 victory at John Bapst of Bangor last Friday night as Foxcroft scored on its first offensive play from scrimmage and went on to build a 27-0 first-quarter lead.
“We played another balanced game,” said White. “We got a lot of contributions from a number of kids. Six different kids scored touchdowns and we were up 34-0 at the half. By starting fast and playing very good defense we were able to control the game from the opening kickoff.”
Senior Brandon Brock finished with 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns against John Bapst, while sophomore quarterback Nick Clawson passed to Jeremy Richard and Zach Caron for touchdowns and rushed for 99 yards and another score. Evan Chadbourne added a 24-yard touchdown run and a 75-yard kickoff return for a score.
Billy Brock lead the Foxcroft defense with 10 tackles, while James Smith was in on eight stops and Brandon Brock seven.
The win left Foxcroft tied for fifth place in Class C North with Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston, which defeated Belfast in its regular-season finale. Since Foxcroft and Oceanside were tied in both Crabtree and Heal points, did not meet during the season, had identical schedules and identical 4-4 records, the lone remaining tiebreaker was a coin toss, which Foxcroft won.
Oceanside will play at No. 3 Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor on Friday night in the other C North quarterfinal. No. 1 Old Town and No. 2 Winslow — unbeatens that also had their seeds determined by coin flip — earned first-round byes.
Foxcroft wasn’t certain it would have a postseason future at all after quarterback-safety Hunter Smith and tailback-linebacker Billy Brock were injured during a preseason game at Orono — with Smith sidelined for the season and Brock limited to playing defense.
But the Ponies regrouped, and now arrive at the playoffs with a renewed sense of confidence.
“Winning will do that, and certainly the last couple of weeks the kids have found the confidence that maybe they didn’t have,” said White. “Certainly it gets tougher from here and we understand that, but we also understand we’ve done the work and we’ve done a good job of getting ourselves in this position.”
Fourth-ranked Madison-Carrabec (4-4) has considerable offensive balance of its own featuring quarterback Chase Malloy and running back Nick Morales.
Morales presented Foxcroft major issues during their earlier meeting, rushing for 151 yards and scoring four touchdowns.
“We had a tough time containing him, particularly on the outside,” said White. “We’ve got to do a much better job on him. He’s a good back. He’s shifty but he’s also strong and fast, and that’s a pretty good combination.
“We were happy with the way we defended the ball in the air in that game, that was one takeaway we were really happy with,” White added. “We were also happy with the way we moved the ball, we just weren’t able to come away with the points.”
Those within the Foxcroft program believe they have improved markedly since that earlier meeting.
“We’re certainly playing more confidently,” said White. “The kids are excited about this opportunity, they feel like they belong. It’s not like they have a sense of overachieving, they really feel like we have as much of a shot of winning as they do so we’re going to prepare to try to win a game.”
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
FENDING OFF A COUPLE OF PESKY HAWKS — Foxcroft sophomore quarterback Nick Clawson looks to stiff arm Hermon junior Connor Magliozzi and run away from junior Alex Leathers during a Oct. 2 contest at Oakes Field. The Ponies won big during the team’s 2015 Homecoming game, jumping out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter, 49-0 halftime advantage and winning by a final score of 62-16.