A soaked field and a driving rain are conditions best suited to the basics of football: Give the ball to the fullback and send him straight up the middle. Conveniently for Gorham, they’ve got a guy suited perfectly for that job.

Colin Hurd ran through the mud and puddles of Martin Field in South Portland, shedding Red Riots tacklers on his way to 153 yards and two touchdowns. Teammate Justin Villacci added three touchdowns, as the Rams topped South Portland, 50-0, under dismal conditions Saturday.

“We did what we normally do – just pound it. Hit the holes and run over them,” the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Hurd said. “The conditions were terrible. It was like playing in a pool.”

The field, already saturated from a week of showers, deteriorated quickly as the game began amidst light rain and then got even worse under a ceaseless deluge. Not only was passing difficult – the squads were a combined 4-for-16 through the air with five interceptions – but the transfer of the ball during the snap and handoff of running plays led to frequent fumbles, of which four resulted in turnovers.

Even when careful execution got the ball into a running back’s hands, making cuts on slick grass and in ankle-deep mud puddles was challenging. But at least the offense knows what the play is. Defenders trying to pursue a moving target while being blocked on a slippery surface in poor visibility have an even tougher task.

Gorham’s running game has been piling up chunks of yardage all season, but their first touchdown was a 30-yard pass play from quarterback Mark Clements to tight end Matt Trask on the Rams first possession.

The toss came before the heavy rain started and was Clements’ only completion of the day. From there, the ground game took over, as the visitors found the end zone on each of their first six possessions, none taking more than four plays from scrimmage.

Villacci (10-yard run) and Hurd (50-yard run) made it 24-0 in the first quarter. They each scored on rushes again in the second period, as did Colby Walker. Villacci added his third TD early in the third quarter.

“Up front they’re so big,” Riots lineman Eugene Arsenault said. “I thought we’d do a little better than we did, but they’re just relentless. They don’t give up.”

Six of Hurd’s eight carries were for more than a dozen yards. The number of touches is deceptively low – Villacci had just nine carries (for 85 yards) – because Gorham was able to score so quickly.

“That fullback that they have is amazing,” said South Portland linebacker Jon Linscott. “It took so many of our guys just to bring him down.”

“(Hurd) is not a bad guy to give the ball to when you need to hang onto it in conditions like this,” said Rams coach Dave Kilborn.

On offense the Riots had real difficulties moving the ball, gaining only one first down on the day while punting seven times.

Lineman Jon Lyons did recover a pair of fumbles for the hosts, while Sam Adams bagged another and Linscott snared an interception. Walker had two pickoffs for Gorham, while Trask and JD Sampson had one each.

“This is probably one of the one or two worst fields I’ve seen in all my days in football,” said South Portland coach Steve Stinson, “but I don’t think that had anything to do with the outcome of the game. Every year Dave has a physical football team. They’re well-conditioned athletes.”

Despite the outcome, a number of players said they fully enjoyed the experience of playing in the slop.

“It was ridiculously fun,” Arsenault said. “Even though we lost this is probably one of the games I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

The Riots (0-7) now gear up for Friday night’s “Battle of the Bridge” at Portland (7-0), while Gorham (5-2) prepares for a regular season finale at home against defending champs Bonny Eagle (6-1).

“It’s going to be a challenge,” said Trask. “We want to be able to come out of that next week with a win so we go into the playoffs with high hopes and confidence.”