WINTHROP — For as much success as Winthrop has had this season, Saturday’s opening quarter was just about as ugly as it gets.
On four first-quarter possessions, the Ramblers lost a pair of fumbles, threw an interception and punted after four downs.
Yet, 45 seconds into second quarter, thanks to their lock-down defense, the Ramblers took a 13-point lead and never looked back.
Ryan Conant galloped off 123 yards and scored three times on 19 carries and caught two passes for 61 yards and another score to lead Winthrop to a 40-6 win over rival Maranacook on Saturday.
“The kids showed a great response to adversity and turned it on,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said.
“They’re really good, man, they have a lot of speed, and it’s hard to stop speed,” Maranacook coach Joe Emery said.
The Black Bears appeared to have found the formula in the first quarter, though. On the first play of the game, Derek Pamphrey scampered 12 yards on a toss to the left, but coughed up the ball and handed it to Maranacook.
Two runs and two passes later, the Bears gave the ball back to the Ramblers, who then went three-and-out.
A four-minute Maranacook drive stalled in Winthrop territory after that, but again the Ramblers felt generous, and three plays later Conant put the ball on the ground, and again the Black Bears grabbed it.
Wash, rinse, repeat. After four more futile plays from Maranacook, Winthrop gained control of the ball, and this time, Travis Luce launched the ball over the middle and Cody Roy collected the first of two interceptions on the day for the Bears.
By the second quarter, the Ramblers’ defense was apparently fed up. Hunter Sherman stepped in front of a Caleb Castonguay pass in the flat and scampered 60 yards the other way on the third play of the frame to put the hosts on top by a touchdown.
“The defense kept us in the game, let us withstand their burst and because of that, the offense was able to get going,” Stoneton said.
Another Maranacook fumble — on the next play from scrimmage — put the ball back in the offense’s hands, and on the play after that, Conant hit pay dirt for the second Winthrop score.
The Ramblers rolled from there.
“A couple of quick scores like that takes the wind out of their sails,” Stoneton said. “The offense coincides with the defense, and we help each other.”
“We worked a lot on the defensive line shifting around, who we’re going to block in certain circumstances,” Emery said. “But they were just better than us tonight.”
Winthrop continued to do its best to help Maranacook. Another interception led to a fluke touchdown on a fumble recovery to give the Bears their only score, and the Ramblers fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the ball back to Maranacook.
But the defense clamped down from there.
“Our defense is the pride around here,” Conant said. “It has been for a long time, and we know we can shut things down. We had a harder time getting things going on offense, but we knew they weren’t going to get anything going on us.”
Conant caught a 37-yarder from Luce to close out the first half, and added another couple via the run in the fourth quarter after the Ramblers’ defense scored again in the third.
Maranacook’s workhorse, Luke Emery, managed just 43 yards on 21 carries, and at one point had carried the ball five times for nine total yards.
“The game plan was to contain him and keep him inside,” Stoneton said. “That was a challenge for us, we gave up the edge a couple of times, but we made some adjustments.”
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