DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A team ravaged by key injuries even before its regular season began now may be in position to experience life in football’s second season after all.
The Foxcroft Academy Ponies significantly improved their potential for earning a Class C North playoff berth Friday night, scoring seven touchdowns on plays of 15 yards or longer to defeat Belfast 48-8 at Oakes Field.
“When they happen, they happen,” said senior running back and end Brandon Brock, who contributed a team-high 145 yards and a touchdown on just eight rushes. ”We found the holes the line made, hit them as hard as we could and got as much green as we could.”
Foxcroft, which began the night ranked seventh in C North or one spot out of the playoff hunt, now is 3-4 and suddenly in contention for a postseason berth with one week left in the regular season.
Belfast, which was ranked fourth in C North entering the game, also is 3-4.
Foxcroft generated 378 yards of total offense behind Brock and sophomore quarterback Nick Clawson — who emerged with the job after star senior Hunter Smith was lost for the season with a dislocated hip suffered during an exhibition game.
Clawson rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and also threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Richard to give the Ponies a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Teammate Evan Chadbourne’s lone rushing attempt went for 69 yards and a touchdown later in the period as Foxcroft built a 20-8 halftime advantage, and Zach Caron and David Salley each added a 15-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
The Ponies also had a balanced defensive effort, with Billy Brock, Caron, Salley and Tanner Strout each in on at least 10 tackles. Billy Brock — playing with a cast on one arm due to a preseason injury that sidelined him for Foxcroft’s first two games and has left him unable to play offense throughout the fall — also contributed a 29-yard interception return for a second-quarter touchdown and one of the Ponies’ three quarterback sacks.
“This just speaks tremendous volumes to the character of these kids, to stick it out, to believe in what they’re doing and what we’re coaching them to do, and to trust in each other as teammates,” said Foxcroft coach Danny White. “Tonight finally things came together.
“We caught some breaks, but we made the plays. It was great to see us execute on offense and do a shutdown job on defense. I told the kids in the postgame huddle that everything just fell in place tonight, so let’s enjoy it.”
Belfast was led by senior quarterback Drew Nealey, who also was forced into some duty at tailback after starter Alex Canning left the game due to injury midway through the first half.
Nealey completed 10 of 18 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown while adding 84 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
Foxcroft’s first score, in which Clawson scrambled away from heavy Belfast defensive pressure before finding Richard open in the right flat for the touchdown pass, was set up two plays earlier when the Ponies’ James Smith stripped the ball from Nealey and Strout recovered at the Belfast 22.
Belfast took its only lead when Nealley passed to tight end Rory Ambrose (four catches, 70 yards) over the middle for a 34-touchdown strike and then rushed for the two-point conversion to make it an 8-6 game.
That lead lasted all of 19 seconds, the final 12 expended as Chadbourne took the first-down handoff after the kickoff and raced virtually untouched off left tackle and then down the sideline to the end zone.
Clawson’s two-point run gave Foxcroft a 14-8 lead with 5:35 left before intermission, and Billy Brock’s interception return for a touchdown 62 seconds after that gave the Ponies a 20-8 cushion at the break.
While Belfast’s offense struggled without Canning’s presence, Foxcroft continued to generate big plays, including touchdown runs of 25 yards by Clawson and 41 yards by Brandon Brock during the third period as the Ponies extended their advantage to 34-8.
