READFIELD — Joe Emery is plenty happy to accept the fact that often, in high school football, a team’s strength can vary greatly from year to year given any number of factors, including how many seniors — or eligible players — line the opposite sideline.
Case in point: A year ago, Winthrop drubbed Emery’s Maranacook squad, earning a 34-point victory.
That made Friday’s result that much sweeter. Four players combined for six touchdowns and the Black Bears’ defense held the Ramblers to 68 yards of total offense in a 40-6 win at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams. It was the identical score by which Winthrop defeated Maranacook one year ago.
“We returned the favor, I think it was the exact score last year,” Maranacook coach Joe Emery said. “It was pretty much the same type of game. Second half, we didn’t have anything left, and they had a lot of seniors, and now, it’s kind of our turn.”
“We lost 16 guys this week, that’s kind of a big blow, and Maranacook’s one of the top teams in the conference,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said. “We had to come here and play our best game, though.”
Senior wideout Seth Miller hauled in a pair of touchdown catches for the Black Bears, one each from quarterback Caleb Castonguay and halfback Luke Emery on an option pass. Castonguay also ran for a pair of TDs. Luke Emery and Jesse Evans accounted for the other scores.
“This is the first time in years and years we’ve been 4-1,” Castonguay said. “Winthrop, big rivalry, they beat us 40-6 last year, it was just kind of, back at them.”
With Winthrop short more than a dozen players due to ineligibility, the Ramblers expected a bit of a rough start. What neither team expected was the fumble-and-turnover-fest in the opening stanza.
“We tried to give it to them in the first half,” Joe Emery said.
“They did make a lot of mistakes and we didn’t capitalize,” Stoneton said. “We made a lot of mistakes, put them in great position and, game over.”
Winthrop’s first series was a three-and-out. After Luke Emery set the Black Bears up with a first-and-goal at the five, a penalty pushed them back to the 10, and then an errant snap handed the ball back to Winthrop.
The Ramblers recovered a fumble two snaps later, but again went three-and-out.
On the Bears’ next possession, again inside the 10, the snap sailed over Castonguay’s head. On a blown passing play on fourth down, Castonguay escaped up the right side for the game’s first touchdown.
“The fumble, that was my fault, so luckily enough, we came back and got another score,” Castonguay said. “We just kept going.”
Winthrop knotted the game at 6-6 on a 24-yard pass from Jared Hanson to Dakota Carter.
Three Maranacook scores in the second quarter put the game out of Winthrop’s reach. Luke Emery executed the halfback option to perfection after shaking six would-be tacklers for a 19-yard strike to Miller.
After a blocked punt, Miller was again the target, this time for Castonguay from 32 yards out, and Castonguay took it in himself late in the half after a lost fumble and an interception halted a pair of Winthrop drives.
Evans’ TD on the third play of the third quarter put the hosts in front 32-6, and Luke Emery’s 7-yarder with 2:11 remaining in the third capped the scoring. Both teams ran out the clock from there with their respective junior varsity groups.
“It’s Winthrop, they played us tough,” Joe Emery said.
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