RUMFORD – After 11 weeks of pummeling the Campbell Conference, only one question remains regarding the Mountain Valley Falcons.
What can they possibly do for an encore?
Top-seeded and unbeaten Mountain Valley finished steamrolling its western Maine competition Saturday with a 47-6 thrashing of No. 2 Cape Elizabeth at Hosmer Field to claim its second Western B crown in three years.
A scintillating rematch of the 2004 state title game with Eastern B champion Winslow awaits next Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium, and the Falcons will try to make it two out of three there, as well.
“This means very much to them,” Falcons coach Jim Aylward said of his players. “I don’t know if people realize, it means a lot to these kids. Some kids, they play their sports. These kids live their football. I don’t do anything special to get them ready to play. It’s just a matter that it means that much to them.”
Andy Shorey fired four touchdown passes, Justin Staires scored four times, and Devin Roberts ran for 159 yards and another touchdown as the Falcons rolled to a quick 21-0 lead and never looked back.
Mountain Valley (11-0) dominated every aspect of the game, outgaining Cape, 464-98, with most of the Capers’ yards coming against the Falcons’ second defense. Only a 34-yard TD pass from Ezra Wolfinger to Patrick Gallant on the last play of the game separated the Falcons from their eighth shutout of the year.
Two weeks after letting the Capers hang around during an 18-6 regular season finale, the Falcons essentially put this one out of reach in less than nine minutes.
The highlight of the game for Cape came on the first play, when Andrew Cohn dropped Roberts in the backfield for a seven-yard loss. On the next play, though, Shorey dropped back and, while getting hit on his throwing arm, winged a high, arcing pass to Staires along the left sideline. Staires timed his leap perfectly, the Cape defender didn’t, and came down with it near the 40. After shedding a couple of tacklers near midfield, he raced down the sideline for an 87-yard TD just 51 seconds into the game.
“When we overloaded one side and split (Staires) out and saw they were man-to-man, it took me `til the second play of the game to decide to throw the fade to him,” Aylward said.
“I dropped back and they had single coverage (on Staires). I don’t know why they have Justin in single coverage sometimes,” Shorey said. “I took a shot at him and kind of got hit on the arm, but it was enough for him to go up and get it and do the rest.”
The Falcons started their next series at their own 21 and kept the ball on the ground for 10 plays of an 11-play drive. Staires (18 yards), Roberts (20 yards) and John Perry (11 yards) churned out first down runs before Staires capped the drive with a two-yard dive over left tackle that made it 14-0.
Cape (9-2), which suspended five players earlier in the week for violation of team rules, dug itself into a deeper hole on the first play of its next possession with a fumbled handoff that Matt Glover recovered at Cape’s 34. Three plays later, Shorey found Owen Jones just inside the right sideline in the end zone for a 20-yard TD strike that put the Falcons up, 21-0, with 3:11 to go in the first quarter.
“At first I was (worried about going out of bounds), but when I saw where I was, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem,” Jones said. “Our pass blocking has gotten a lot better. Everyone’s just doing their job.”
Shorey (6-of-10, 160 yards, one interception) completed his first five passes to five different receivers.
“I was feeling it today,” Shorey said. “I was just dropping back and letting go of the ball. I mean, everything felt good today.”
At the end of the first quarter, Mountain Valley had 226 total yards, Cape Elizabeth, -2 yards. The Falcons rolled up another 136 yards in the second quarter and added to their lead with a two-yard TD sneak by Shorey and 15-yard TD run by Roberts.
“It’s amazing how good our line was today,” Roberts said. “They made holes like crazy and I just busted through them as fast as a I could. It’s just amazing to see the holes open like that. The field is just spread out in front of you.”
There was little daylight to be had for Cape’s runners (24 carries, six net yards) and Wolfinger (8-for-20, 92 yards, two INT, five sacks). Defensive tackles Kyle Dow and Thaddeus Bennett blew up the middle of the line consistently, forcing Wolfinger to run for his life and/or throw off-balance.
“They were the wall tonight,” Shorey said of the tackles. “I give them a lot of credit. They took on blocks. They were taking down blocks. They were like a wall.”
“I think they were beating us, to a man,” Cape Elizabeth coach Aaron Filieo said. “We had people in the right place to block. They were just beating us one-on-one up front.”
Shorey and Staires (72 yards rushing, 123 receiving) closed out the scoring in the third quarter by hooking up on two more TD passes of 14 and 22 yards.
“We’ll be back Monday, concentrating on practice,” Shorey said. “The coaches will keep our heads straight, I’m sure.”
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