HAMPDEN, Maine — The Brunswick Dragons showed off the speed and power that has propelled them to the last two Class B North football championships in their 2016 season opener Friday night.
Coach Dan Cooper’s club scored 16 unanswered points within a 73-second span midway through the first quarter and went on to top Hampden Academy 54-20 at the Weatherbee Complex.
Brunswick may have graduated Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist Will Bessey from its 2015 rushing attack, but its wing-T formation generated 399 rushing yards on 35 carries, with nine different running backs contributing to the effort.
The Dragons rushed for 310 yards in the first half alone as they built a 46-6 lead against a Hampden team with just three wins over the last two years that is now seeking to rebuild under new head coach Fred Lower.
Senior Ben Palizay amassed a game-high 97 yards on just four carries for Brunswick, including a 66-yard sprint to the end zone with eight minutes left in the first half. Classmate Jesse Devereaux added 55 yards and a score on five first-quarter carries, while starting quarterback Christian Jensen rushed for 48 yards and a score and also passed for a touchdown.
Backup quarterback Nate Girardin added a 90-yard kickoff return that produced Brunswick’s final touchdown of the evening.
Hampden amassed 350 total yards, 234 after intermission.
Senior quarterback Casey Sudbeck led the way, rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts and completing five of 13 passes for 130 yards with one interception and an 88-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Tyler Knights late in the first half.
Cooper Bennett gained 76 rushing yards on four carries for the Broncos while Marcus Dunn contributed 48 yards on four carries.
The Broncos’ C.J. Upham scored on a 7-yard run while also forcing a fumble on a Brunswick two-point conversion run and recovering another Dragons’ fumble.
Brunswick’s first-team offense was not to be stopped behind the line play of Austin Phillips, Max Friedman, Elijah Gagnon, Owen Sturgeon and Sullivan Boyd, beginning on its first possession when Palizay capped off a nine-play, 66-yard march with a 9-yard TD run 3:54 into the game.
A high center snap on Hampden’s first play from scrimmage resulted in a 21-yard loss to the Broncos’ 5, and Johann Bradley was tackled in the end zone on the next play for a safety that extended the Brunswick lead to 10-0.
A 58-yard return of the ensuing free kick by Hunter Garrett was followed immediately by a 12-yard touchdown strike from Jensen to tight end Corban Teel, making it 16-0 with still 6:53 left in the opening period,
Devereaux powered in from 5 five on the Dragons’ next possession as Brunswick finished off the quarter with a 24-0 lead, then Jensen scored on a 41-yard keeper and Palizay took a double handoff 66 yards to push the lead to 38-0 before Sudbeck passed to Knights to get Hampden on the scoreboard.
Nick Munn closed out the first-half scoring with a 5-yard run.
Sudbeck scored the first touchdown of the second half on a 3-yard run with 2:55 left in the game. That came on the second play after his longest run of the night, a 31-yard keeper.
Girardin answered immediately for Brunswick, taking the kickoff at the Dragons’ 10-yard line and racing up the middle of the field to the end zone.
A 47-yard dash by Bennett set up Hampden’s final score of the game by Upham with 9.7 seconds left.
