Red Storm squashes Squires 14-12 to regain third seed (Printed Oct. 19, 2007)
By Jonathan Farley
Special to the Leader
While most of New England was focused on another frosty game under the lights down at Fenway, the Scarborough Middle School Red Storm was on the road Oct. 13 in Berwick to face the Noble Squires and take back their third place position in the standings. Both teams sported identical 5-2 records coming into the contest, but the Southern Maine Youth Football Heal rankings had Noble seated third, the spot Scarborough had held most of the season.
Electing to receive, Noble quickly went four and out, following a sack by No. 99 Logan Mars. Scarborough seemed cold to start as well, being held to negative yardage, followed by two consecutive penalties and a blocked punt, giving the Squires the ball back on the 39-yard line. The Scarborough defense came out fighting, with hard tackles by No. 67 Steven Strait and attempted picks by No. 24 Scot Thibeault and No. 27 Nick Mercer.
Noble dug deep and ended the first quarter faced with third and goal to go on the 5-yard line. Switching ends of the field, the Red Storm defense dug in even deeper themselves and forced Noble to give up the ball on the 4-yard line.
Deep in their own territory, No. 42 Matt Brown saw the hole and dashed to the 20-yard line, giving quarterback No. 10 Ben Wessel some much needed breathing room. Hanging back in the pocket, Wessel launched a pass to Thibeault putting the Storm on the 30. But on the very next play, Noble intercepted an intended pass to No. 15 Kolbey Adams and ran it back for the first six points of the game.
After the kickoff, Wessel threw a spiraling 20-yard pass for an incredible catch by No. 21 Kellan Smith, only to have the Noble defense cleanly strip it away. The pendulum, however, swings both ways – and on the very next play, Noble coughed up the ball, with Scarborough recovering on the 30-yard line. With the ball firmly in Scarborough’s possession, Coach George Spino turned to his star running back Matt Brown for the next series of downs. Three yards, 12 yards and a first down on the 15. Five yards, two yards and into the end zone for a touchdown, tying the game 6-6. A penalty against Noble for roughing the kicker gave the Red Storm a second chance at extra points, making the 2-point conversion for the go-ahead score.
The Scarborough defense took the field and continued the pressure on the Squires, blitzing on the first play and Thibeault hauling down an interception on the next play, denying Noble a potential second touchdown. Back on offense, Scarborough’s No. 26 Conor McCann caught a Wessel pass to fight his way to the 25-yard line. Then the Scarborough quarterback connected again with Smith with a high, cross-field pass and Kellen held on to run it down the sidelines for their second touchdown, ending the first half with a 14-6 lead.
During halftime, the Noble quarterback was overheard telling his offensive line to stop No. 99 Logan Mars, who was leading the defensive effort for the Red Storm with three sacks on the night. The second half was more of the same. Temperatures diving down into the 40s seemed to cause more fumbles on both sides of the ball. By the end of the third quarter, neither offense was able to move the ball well and the score stayed 14-6 for Scarborough.
The fourth quarter started with No. 25 Adam Ek recovering his own fumble on the 16 for a loss of 2 yards and then Ben Wessel with a rushed backfield lateral, handing the ball over to the Squires. Noble’s Randy Flyers made a key third down conversion for a first down and it looked like Noble was getting into scoring position, but the Scarborough defense again held off the Squires in a dramatic goal line stand. The home team had four shots at the end zone but turned the ball back over to Scarborough, with only minutes to go.
Hoping to get a first down and eat up the clock, Scarborough started from the 7-yard line but lost yardage and was forced to punt. Then, in a heart stopping turn of events, Noble blocked the Red Storm punt and recovered it, running for a quick touchdown and the chance to tie it with the two point conversion. But Scarborough would have none of it and finished off a dramatic, hard fought game to win 14-12.
“Remember this night!” Coach George Spino said to his team after the game. “Because this is the night you became a championship caliber team. This is the night you joined the 3 percent that know what it takes to be winners. I am so, so proud of you.”
The Scarborough JV opened up the night with a win in their final regular season game, beating Noble 28-12.
Scarborough Red Storm Varsity will face the Somersworth Toppers in the first round of the playoffs this Sunday at 1 p.m. at Mitchell Field in Scarborough.
Special to the Leader
While most of New England was focused on another frosty game under the lights down at Fenway, the Scarborough Middle School Red Storm was on the road Oct. 13 in Berwick to face the Noble Squires and take back their third place position in the standings. Both teams sported identical 5-2 records coming into the contest, but the Southern Maine Youth Football Heal rankings had Noble seated third, the spot Scarborough had held most of the season.
Electing to receive, Noble quickly went four and out, following a sack by No. 99 Logan Mars. Scarborough seemed cold to start as well, being held to negative yardage, followed by two consecutive penalties and a blocked punt, giving the Squires the ball back on the 39-yard line. The Scarborough defense came out fighting, with hard tackles by No. 67 Steven Strait and attempted picks by No. 24 Scot Thibeault and No. 27 Nick Mercer.
Noble dug deep and ended the first quarter faced with third and goal to go on the 5-yard line. Switching ends of the field, the Red Storm defense dug in even deeper themselves and forced Noble to give up the ball on the 4-yard line.
Deep in their own territory, No. 42 Matt Brown saw the hole and dashed to the 20-yard line, giving quarterback No. 10 Ben Wessel some much needed breathing room. Hanging back in the pocket, Wessel launched a pass to Thibeault putting the Storm on the 30. But on the very next play, Noble intercepted an intended pass to No. 15 Kolbey Adams and ran it back for the first six points of the game.
After the kickoff, Wessel threw a spiraling 20-yard pass for an incredible catch by No. 21 Kellan Smith, only to have the Noble defense cleanly strip it away. The pendulum, however, swings both ways – and on the very next play, Noble coughed up the ball, with Scarborough recovering on the 30-yard line. With the ball firmly in Scarborough’s possession, Coach George Spino turned to his star running back Matt Brown for the next series of downs. Three yards, 12 yards and a first down on the 15. Five yards, two yards and into the end zone for a touchdown, tying the game 6-6. A penalty against Noble for roughing the kicker gave the Red Storm a second chance at extra points, making the 2-point conversion for the go-ahead score.
The Scarborough defense took the field and continued the pressure on the Squires, blitzing on the first play and Thibeault hauling down an interception on the next play, denying Noble a potential second touchdown. Back on offense, Scarborough’s No. 26 Conor McCann caught a Wessel pass to fight his way to the 25-yard line. Then the Scarborough quarterback connected again with Smith with a high, cross-field pass and Kellen held on to run it down the sidelines for their second touchdown, ending the first half with a 14-6 lead.
During halftime, the Noble quarterback was overheard telling his offensive line to stop No. 99 Logan Mars, who was leading the defensive effort for the Red Storm with three sacks on the night. The second half was more of the same. Temperatures diving down into the 40s seemed to cause more fumbles on both sides of the ball. By the end of the third quarter, neither offense was able to move the ball well and the score stayed 14-6 for Scarborough.
The fourth quarter started with No. 25 Adam Ek recovering his own fumble on the 16 for a loss of 2 yards and then Ben Wessel with a rushed backfield lateral, handing the ball over to the Squires. Noble’s Randy Flyers made a key third down conversion for a first down and it looked like Noble was getting into scoring position, but the Scarborough defense again held off the Squires in a dramatic goal line stand. The home team had four shots at the end zone but turned the ball back over to Scarborough, with only minutes to go.
Hoping to get a first down and eat up the clock, Scarborough started from the 7-yard line but lost yardage and was forced to punt. Then, in a heart stopping turn of events, Noble blocked the Red Storm punt and recovered it, running for a quick touchdown and the chance to tie it with the two point conversion. But Scarborough would have none of it and finished off a dramatic, hard fought game to win 14-12.
“Remember this night!” Coach George Spino said to his team after the game. “Because this is the night you became a championship caliber team. This is the night you joined the 3 percent that know what it takes to be winners. I am so, so proud of you.”
The Scarborough JV opened up the night with a win in their final regular season game, beating Noble 28-12.
Scarborough Red Storm Varsity will face the Somersworth Toppers in the first round of the playoffs this Sunday at 1 p.m. at Mitchell Field in Scarborough.
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