Ponies prep for the regular season with 35-6 exhibition win at Belfast
BELFAST — Foxcroft Academy looked ready for the start of the regular season in less than a week as the Ponies defeated Belfast Area High School 35-6 in a preseason football contest on Aug. 25. The Ponies scored four touchdowns in the first half, with three coming through the air, and kept the home team off the scoreboard until the final play of the game when both squads had reserve units in.
In the team’s first season playing in Class D after four seasons as a Class C school following the Maine Principal’s Association expansion to four football divisions for 2013, Foxcroft got to prepare for the new schedule in 2017 by facing a former Class C opponent.
The Lions opted to defer after winning the coin toss and junior Jeremy Richard brought the kickoff back over 35 yards to the Belfast 48-yard line. Senior quarterback Nick Clawson then took the shotgun snap and kept the football for a gain of 11 yards.
On first-and-10 from the 37 Clawson looked to pass and he spied junior Hyatt Smith wide open on the left side of the field. Smith made the catch and he ran into the endzone with ease as the Foxcroft offense needed only two plays to go 52 yards. A PAT by senior Levi Stedman, with Richard holding, made the score 7-0.
Clawson and Smith connected on another touchdown pass before the end of the opening quarter. Smith got behind the defensive back along the left sideline and Clawson found him for a 16-yard reception and soon to be 14-0 advantage.
Clawson finished 4-of-5 through the air for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Smith would also end the game as a statistical leader with three catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns.
In the second quarter Belfast turned the ball over on downs at the Pony-33. After Clawson scrambled for 22 yards the ball was moved up to the Lions’ 45-yard line. Here Clawson looked down field before hitting senior Cameron Marsh for a completion near the line of scrimmage. Marsh had no defenders around him as he ran all to the 6-yard line for a 39-yard play.
The completion set the Ponies up for a first-and-goal and only one play was needed as junior Michaleb Niles ran through a hole in the right side of the line for the touchdown.
On the ensuing possession a loose football was scooped up by Foxcroft senior R.J. Nelson at the Lion-26. Two players later the Ponies had gotten to the 7-yard line.
Junior Matthew Spooner, who came in for Clawson at the start of the drive, then took the snap and rolled out to the right. Richard broke free from the coverage and Spooner found him in the endzone for the 7-yard touchdown reception.
Both teams got younger players onto the field during the fourth quarter and the third Foxcroft signal-caller of the evening also had a hand in one of his team’s trips to the endzone.
The Ponies had a first down at the team’s own 39-yard line as freshman Logan Martin took the snap. Martin tucked the football under his arm as he ran right and turned up the field. He did not stop until crossing the goal line for the 61-yard touchdown, the longest play of the game and the run enabled Martin to finish as his team’s leading rusher at 61 yards.
The starting PAT unit came on for the resulting kick and Stedman booted the ball through the uprights to finish a perfect 5-for-5 at Belfast.
Foxcroft will open the regular season by hosting Class D South team Madison Area Memorial High School/Carrabec High School — a cooperative program made up of the two Somerset County schools — at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1. The Bulldogs also played in Class C North last season, and the team had a 32-7 victory in Dover-Foxcroft in the Ponies’ 2016 home opener.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
FIRST OF TWO TOUCHDOWN CATCHES — Foxcroft Academy junior Hyatt Smith hauls in the football for a 37-yard touchdown reception on the second play from scrimmage during an Aug. 25 preseason game at Belfast Area High School. Smith would be on the receiving end of a 16-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Nick Clawson before the the end of the first quarter to help the Ponies earn a 35-6 victory.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
STOPPED AT THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE — Junior Caleb Ladd (67) and senior Reggie Johnston combine on the tackle during the opening quarter of a preseason game at Belfast. In 2017 Foxcroft will be playing in Class D North after four seasons in Class C East/North under the four-class system.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
INTO THE HANDS OF THE DEFENDER — Pony senior R.J. Nelson did come down with the football but a roughing the passer penalty negated the interception on Friday night in Belfast. The Foxcroft defense kept Belfast off the scoreboard for nearly four full quarters, helped by four sacks and a fumble recovery.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
SHORT THROW FOR BIG YARDAGE — A quick throw to senior Cameron Marsh enabled the receiver to gain 39 yards to the Belfast 6-yard line during the second quarter of the Aug. 25 preseason contest. On the ensuing first-and-goal junior Michaleb Niles ran the ball in for the third of five Foxcroft touchdowns.