Bonny Eagle 52

Kennebunk 0

The Bonny Eagle football team showed why they are the top seed in Class A West with a 52-0 dismantling of eighth-seeded Kennebunk Friday night. The Scots scored seven touchdowns with seven different players getting into the end zone. Nate Doehler also had a 27 yard field goal. Given the score, it’s hard to believe the Scots only scored six points in the first quarter.

“We definitely did not get out of the gate tonight,” Doehler said. “That’s something we need to work on next week and get better at that.”

After ending their first drive with an interception, the Scots did what they usually do on their second drive-score points. The big play in the six-play series came when John Onesti picked up 38 yards on an end-around to bring the ball to the Kennebunk 11. Four plays later, it was Onesti who hauled in a touchdown pass from Doehler to give Bonny Eagle a 6-0 lead.

The Scots’ next scoring drive came in the second quarter and was helped along by a Rams’ miscue. The Scots were forced to punt the ball away after just three plays. But one of Kennebunk’s returners mishandled the ball and Kyle Wedge jumped on it. That gave Bonny Eagle new life. But they could only get as close as the 10 yard line where they were forced to kick a field goal for a 9-0 lead.

“It took us a long time to get on track so a lot of credit goes to Kennebunk and how they played,” said Bonny Eagle head coach Kevin Cooper.

Kennebunk took over after the kick looking to get something going on offense as the Bonny Eagle defense had been keeping them down. On a first down play from their own 33, the Rams fumbled and Brian Butler picked up the ball. He rumbled 33 yards into the end zone and Bonny Eagle suddenly had a 16-0 lead after Doehler’s extra point.

“Offensively we were not doing what we needed to do to be successful and so we needed to have something either on defense or special teams to get us going,” Cooper said. “That was a big play to pick up that fumble and take it back for six.”

The Scots forced a quick three-and-out for Kennebunk and got the ball back with just 1:31 to play in the first half. That was plenty of time for Doehler to lead the Scots down the field and into the end zone. After an incomplete pass on the first play, Doehler found Ricky Hoyt for 10 yards. Then he hooked up with Darren Lovley for the first down. On the next play, Doehler lofted a perfect pass down the right sideline for Ricky Hoyt, who caught it in stride and went all the way for the score to give the Scots a 23-0 lead. The drive took all of 32 seconds.

In the second half, the Scots imposed their will on Kennebunk with four more touchdowns. Dayton McPherson scored the only touchdown of the third quarter with an eight-yard run. Josh Ruby scored on a 43-yard run in the fourth quarter. Max Alfiero and Sam Proudman also scored fourth quarter touchdowns.

The Bonny Eagle defense created all sorts of problems for Kennebunk. In addition to holding the Rams to just 102 yards of offense, they took the ball away three times. Two takeaways came on fumbles and the other on an interception by Cody Spencer. The Scots also forced Kennebunk to punt the ball eight times in 13 possessions.

“The defense has played very well all year long,” Cooper said. “We’re big and strong up front and we’re quick in the secondary. That usually means we won’t give up many big plays. And when we take away the big plays, that makes teams drive the field. Kennebunk got a few first downs early, we made them go a long distance without giving up big plays.”

With the win, Bonny Eagle moves on to the regional semifinals where they will host Deering, which eliminated Gorham last week. The Scots defeated Deering earlier this season, but Cooper says that doesn’t mean much now.

“We were fortunate to beat them earlier in the year but we have to expect them to be a little bit better,” Cooper said. “They have made some improvements obviously to beat Gorham. We need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to stop Jack Heary and put some points on the board. Bonny Eagle and Deering has become a good rivalry. We respect Deering a lot. They are a very good team with very good players. So we need to prepare for a good team.”