The undefeated Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale Ramblers (5-0) host the undefeated Foxcroft Academy Ponies (6-0) on Friday night in one of the biggest games of the Class D regular season.
Winthrop is coming off a 40-14 win on Monday over Freeport that was powered by big plays from the offense.
“One thing we hadn’t done well with was play-action passing, and we hit a 72-yard touchdown on Monday,” Winthrop head coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “Our quarterback, Andrew Foster, only completed four passes but they were for 201 yards. We got big-play guys and he can obviously throw; we wanted to do both; but we can run the ball really well. It was great.”
The matchup with Freeport was originally scheduled for last Friday, but right before the game a truck hit a nearby transformer, turning off the power at Winthrop Grade School and on the football field. That forced the game to be moved to Monday. Losing a couple of practice days leading up to this Friday’s showdown with the Ponies has set the Ramblers back some.
“We’re used to having one, maybe two days for leg recovery, and we didn’t get that this week,” St. Hilaire said. “That’s the biggest concern from Monday to Friday versus Saturday to Friday. We’ve got to tone some of the conditioning down. It’s Week 7 and the recovery is the important part. Make sure not to overwork the guys.”
Rest and recovery have been a focus for the Ramblers this week. They usually have a run-through on Thursday to get ready for a Friday game, but won’t have one this week.
“The area we felt was most important were special teams, and we put that in the schedules,” St. Hilaire said. “A lot of seven-on-seven and run defense, but a lot of team stuff where we have a scripted amount of reps. We will try to watch film as much as possible this week and make sure we are doing things the right way.”
Foxcroft is coming off of a 41-6 victory over Poland Regional High School last week, the first time this season the Ponies have held a team to single-digit scoring.
Austin Seavey, the Foxcroft quarterback, has been finding Caden Crocker often this season, so the defending the duo has been a point of emphasis for Winthrop this week.
“They’re a team where they have so many skill guys, they have a solid offensive line and their quarterback throws well, they can run, slot receivers that are hard to defend, they can match you with quads quite a bit, they throw a lot at you, if you try to stop one thing,” St. Hilaire said. “They’re going to make us prepare.”
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