THORNDIKE — Even with a playoff spot secure, the Winthrop/Monmouth football team wanted to have a fast start in Saturday afternoon’s crossover game at Mount View, if for no other reason than to set the tone heading into the postseason.

The Ramblers can consider the tone set.

Winthrop/Monmouth scored a defensive touchdown on the second play of the game, the first score in a 28-point first quarter. The Ramblers (4-4) cruised from there, taking a 41-6 win. They will likely be the No. 6 seed in the Class D South playoffs. Mount View ends the season at 2-6 and will miss the Class D North playoffs.

“The coaches just wanted us to play a full game again. They said to come out to a quick start, and that’s what we tried to do,” said Winthrop/Monmouth senior Greg Fay, who caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Keegan Choate in the second quarter.

Six players scored a touchdown for the Ramblers, beginning with senior defensive lineman Trenton Wood, who recovered a fumble on the game’s second play and ran 30 yards for a score. It was a big play for a senior who almost didn’t play football this season, Winthrop/Monmouth coach Dave St. Hilaire said.

“Trenton had played all three years. He’s got some physical issues he was worried about and didn’t come out this year. In the preseason, he came up and said, ‘Coach, I made a bad decision. I want to come back,’” St. Hilaire said. “To see him get that was a good thing for a senior.”

The Ramblers first offensive play was a 68-yard screen pass from Choate to Cameron Gaghan. Five plays later, Choate hit Evan Burnell for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Kane Gould added an 11-yard touchdown run, and with 43 seconds left in the first quarter, Carson Camick scored on a 2-yard run for a 28-0 lead.

“We saw some things we could take advantage of, and one of them was on that screen pass. They sit in that 52 (defense), and there’s some points we could attack, and we did it on that first play,” St. Hilaire said.

Fay’s touchdown catch in the final minute of the second quarter gave the Ramblers a 34-0 halftime lead.

“Coach (St. Hilaire) wanted to go short because it was third-and-3, but I saw they didn’t have a safety so I just audibled to Keegan and he got the ball there,” Fay said.

While Choate threw three touchdown passes, including a 12-yard strike to Jevin Smith in the third quarter for the Ramblers’ final score, running the ball was a point of emphasis for the Ramblers. Winthrop/Monmouth averaged just 1.9 yards per carry in last week’s loss to Oak Hill, St. Hilaire said, and wanted to improve that. The Ramblers often lined up in the I-formation, a look they hadn’t used all season, and it worked. Winthrop/Monmouth ran the ball 34 times for 145 yards, a 4.3 yard-per-carry average.

“I don’t know the last time we ran the I, but it was something to hit the holes quicker and get a run game established,” St. Hilaire said.

The Mustangs got on the board with 3:20 left in the game, when Adrien Sholes scored on a 1-yard run.

“I feel the kids played hard. We all grew as a coaching staff,” Mount View coach Rick Leary said of his first season as the Mustangs’ head coach.

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