PORTLAND — It was a night and day change for the defense of the Biddeford football team when the Tigers took the field on Friday night.

A week ago, in a 21-9 loss to Scarborough at Waterhouse Field, the Tigers allowed 262 passing yards, including touchdown passes that were over 70 and 80 yards.

Against the offense of Portland on Friday night at Fitzpatrick Stadium, the number was 106. Not passing yards, however, but total offensive yards.

The defensive output led the way for Biddeford to pick up a 35-7 win over the Bulldogs.

Coming off the heels of a tough loss to Scarborough, Tigers head coach Scott Descoteaux said the week had been a tough one for his players.

“It was a tremendously emotional week for us,” Descoteaux said. “As coaches, as players, I’m proud of my kids. I talked last week to the folks that stood at Waterhouse and I told them that I thought we needed to coach better and that we needed to play better. We had moments during the week that we looked each other in the eyes and we circled who we hoped we wanted to be. What we needed to do was focus and concentrate on what we needed to do for 48 minutes. I am just proud of my kids tonight for what I got out of that.”

Biddeford (4-1) set the tone on the first drive of the game. After a 44-yard kick return by Michael Herrick to start the game, the Bulldogs drove the ball to the Tigers 18-yard line. On fourth down, Portland quarterback Matt McInnis lofted a pass into the corner of the endzone, but the pass was swatted away by defensive back Patrick Wilson.

Descoteaux said he was happy with the play of the Tigers pass defense.

“It was better,” Descoteaux said. “We got [defensive back] D.J. Shannon back tonight, who’s a big contributor to what we’re doing defensively. We’re better than what we showed last week, even for maybe more the last couple of weeks. We needed to be better this week, and I think we were.”

With running back Will Walsh out with a hamstring injury, the Tigers were able to focus the rush defense on the Bulldogs’ most dangerous back, Imadhi Zagon. Biddeford held Zagon to 56 yards on 12 carries.

Biddeford quarterback Tyler Audie, who also plays safety, said the Tigers were more focused coming into Portland.

“I think we had  good gameplan this week,” Audie said. “We definitely started with that. We came into the week really focused. We just wanted to get at it defensively, we knew we gave up some big plays last week, and we knew that game would have been a little different if we played a little better in the secondary. I don’t think [McInnis] completed many passes tonight. We were really aggressive and everyone was getting to the ball. Lot of stops in the backfield and the defensive line was great. That’s where it all starts up there. They played a [heck] of a game tonight.”

The Tigers held their own on the offensive side of the ball as well. Biddeford fullback Nick Gagne rushed for 94 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns. Ryan Webb also added into the output with 74 yards rushing on four carries and two touchdowns, and Audie rushed for 69 yards on 19 carries and threw for a touchdown.

Biddeford struck first on the first play of the second quarter with a 3-yard rumble by Gagne to take a 7-0 lead. After McInnis threw an interception to Shannon, Biddeford needed only four plays to cover 35 yards for the next score, culminating on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Audie to tight end Dan Tanguay to give the Tigers a 14-0 score, where it would remain until halftime.

The Tigers kicked the second half off in fine fashion thanks to a 63-yard kickoff return by Josh Aube to put the ball at the Portland 31-yard line. Four plays later, Webb took a handoff on a sweep and juked and cut his way through Portland defenders for a 31-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead. The Bulldogs would score their lone touchdown on the ensuing kickoff, which Herrick returned 85-yards for a touchdown.

The Tigers would score again on their next drive, marching 82-yards on 10 plays, capped off by a 4-yard run by Gagne to make the score 28-7. Webb finished off the scoring for Biddeford in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard touchdown run.

Biddeford will take on Sanford at Waterhouse Field next week for its homecoming game.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318.