AUGUSTA — A slew of passes and penalty flags flew back and forth across Alumni Field on a mild autumn Friday night.
But it was Cony High School that came in for a smooth landing on its own turf with a 32-8 football win over Mt. Blue.
It wasn’t an easy flight for the Rams, though. The Cougars stopped Cony several times inside the 20-yard line. But Mt. Blue sputtered on offense due in part to the Rams’ defense.
Of course, when the Rams did throw, they eventually found the end zone despite the Cougars’ rough-and-tumble defense.
“We had a lot penalties, but executed well on offense,” Cony coach B.L. Lippert said. “Up front, I thought we did a nice job against their pass rush.
“We made some holes in the run game and our receivers made some plays with ball in the air. And our defense was tremendous.”
The Rams finally got on the board in the first quarter after they were met with fierce resistance from the Cougars, who stopped Cony at the 5-yard line.
When Cony (2-2) got the ball back at the 45, senior quarterback Anthony Sousa reeled off a 39-yard pass to Elija Dutil, who brought it to the 11-yard line. Senior running back Logan Leadbetter took it from there and scored, but the kick was blocked. Still, Cony led 6-0 with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Cony’s Mitchell MacFarland intercepted Noah Bell’s pass at the 34 yard line.
Cony got the ball back and moved it to the nine where Sousa sent a sweet shuttle pass to Leadbetter for the touchdown. The kick failed again, but the Rams were feeling pretty good about themselves with a 12-0 lead going into the half.
The Rams were more determined in the third quarter where they scored two touchdowns. Sousa came across with a keeper from the 4-yard line after he set up the touchdown 31-yard pass to Jordan Roddy. He scored the next touchdown on a 4-yard rush.
Sousa connected with Roddy in the fourth quarter with a 29-yard pass to put the Rams ahead 32-0.
Mt. Blue did score late in the fourth quarter. With 6.3 second left, quarterback Hunter Meeks reeled off a 13-yard TD pass to Kyle Heikkinen. Kevon Johnson delivered the two-point conversion.
“It was listless performance on our part,” Mt. Blue coach Nate Quirion said. “I want to apologize to the Mt. Blue fans and the Mt. Blue community for that performance.
“We didn’t lay down on defense, but we were listless on offense. That might be tough comments for high school, but the way it was.”
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