OLD TOWN, Maine — T.J. Crawford rushed for 219 yards on 19 carries and scored four touchdowns to lead the Old Town Coyotes to a 42-28 high school football victory over the Belfast Lions at Victory Field Friday night.
Old Town improved to 3-2 while Belfast fell to 1-4.
The elusive Crawford turned in a scintillating performance. Not only did he use his quick feet to evade tacklers, he also put his head down and ran over them as he kept his legs churning.
Crawford ran for 169 yards on 13 carries in the first half as Old Town scored 28 unanswered points to erase a 6-0 deficit.
His 11-yard touchdown run capped an eight-play, 67-yard drive after senior running back Tyler McLeod had opened the scoring with a 9-yard TD run.
Crawford carried the ball five times for 60 yards on the drive.
McLeod had sparked Belfast’s TD march with a 39-yard run.
Old Town took the lead with an eight-play, 46-yard drive that saw Crawford lug the ball five times for 40 yards.
His 2-yard TD run with 9:41 left in the first half gave him 100 yards.
He also ran for the two-point conversion.
Crawford extended the lead with a dynamic 70-yard touchdown run, and freshman Travis Spell returned an interception 75 yards for a TD near the end of the half.
The resilient Lions didn’t quit and strung together a drive that lasted nearly nine minutes capped by a TD.
But Crawford returned the kickoff 79 yards for a TD.
Andrew Ackles threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tristan Roberts for Belfast going 46 and 15 yards.
Ethan Stoddard ran 3 yards for a TD in between the passes for Old Town.
The hard-running McLeod finished with 151 yards on 27 carries for Belfast.
Crawford also had a sack for Old Town.
Senior Crawford credited his line for his output.
“They executed tonight. They stayed with their blocks and they gave me some seams,” said Crawford.
He said his kickoff return was also the result of exceptional blocking.
“We said before the kickoff we needed to regain the momentum,” said Crawford.
He said he thought McLeod turned in a quality performance for Belfast.
“He was tough to bring down,” said Crawford.
Ackles completed seven of 12 passes for 120 yards.
Greg Dinsmore caught two passes for 38 yards and carried the ball four times for 29 yards for Belfast.