Houlton High School’s first home varsity football game in more than six decades was a ringing success — save only for the fact that the Shiretowners weren’t able to play under the lights at their new home.
But now that the transformer to power the lights at the Maliseet Sports Complex has arrived after being delayed in transit at Nashville, Tennessee, last week, coach Brian Reynolds’ club will experience Friday night lights at home for the first time on Sept. 19, when it hosts Dexter in an LTC Class D matchup.
Houlton will be riding the momentum of its first victory, a 44-30 win over Washington Academy of East Machias last Saturday.
The game was a coming-out party for Houlton senior running back Jake Drew, who rushed for 319 yards and four touchdowns on just 14 carries — an average of 22.9 yards per attempt — behind the Shiretowners’ formidable offensive line.
Backfield mate Josh Upton, who missed Houlton’s season-opening loss at Orono because of injury, added 68 yards and two touchdowns on seven rushes.
Washington Academy scored on its first possession to take an 8-0 lead, but Drew answered with a 68-yard scoring run on Houlton’s first play from scrimmage.
The Raiders led 16-6 after the first period, but Drew scored twice, and Upton added a third touchdown as Houlton scored 22 unanswered points to take a 28-16 halftime advantage.
Drew scored his fourth touchdown on Houlton’s first possession of the second half, and Upton scored again late in the period as the lead increased to as much as 44-16.
“I thought we played well and have improved each week,” said Reynolds. “This was a turning point for us as a team after the defeat the previous week in Orono.
“We realized we can come back from a deficit if we keep up the intensity. We also now know that we can hold a lead. We have learned a lot about ourselves in our first two weeks in the LTC and hope to keep improving each week,” he said.
