TOPSHAM

The Mt. Ararat defense was geared up to stop the passing of Cony quarterback Ben Lucas. In fact, Lucas’ third pass of Friday’s Pine Tree Conference high school football contest was intercepted by Eagles safety Alex Laurelez.

But, what Mt. Ararat lacked was the ability to tackle Rams running back Brandon St. Michel, who torched the Eagles for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter before Lucas warmed up to throw four TDs before halftime in a 57-28 Cony victory.

The 2-1 Rams dominated the matchup between varsity starters, outscoring Mt. Ararat 43-0 in the first half, with Lucas completing 12 of 19 passes for 197 yards.

“Again, what has plagued us most of the year is we make some mistakes and get off-schedule and it’s tough to recoup,” said Mt. Ararat coach Frank True, whose team is 0-3 and faces the daunting task of hosting unbeaten Lawrence this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m. “We can’t keep putting the ball on the ground. We have to hold onto it to have success.”

Opportunity lost

Cony opened the game with a quick four-play drive for a 7- 0 lead. St. Michel broke free for a 46-yard run to the MA- 18, and two plays later scampered through the Mt. Ararat defense for a 16-yard TD run.

Laurelez returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to give the Eagles good field position, but four straight runs netted just five yards as Cony took over on downs.

The Rams ran just one play, with Laurelez’ interception giving Mt. Ararat the ball near midfield.

But, three plays later the Eagles put the ball on the ground, with Cony’s Charlie Hallak recovering the miscue to give the Rams the ball.

A penalty kept the Rams out of the endzone momentarily, but a 17-yard burst by St. Michel kept the drive alive, and the Cony running back gave his squad a 14-0 lead with a 6- yard run with 2:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

“It means everything for us to establish a run with the way we can pass the ball,” said St. Michel, who finished with 122 yards on 11 carries, all in the first half. “They were running three defensive linemen up front, and my line was opening holes every single time. I just want to contribute and try to help my team win.”

“We saw them against Edward Little and they ran the ball well, and even though most consider them a passing team, we prepared for the run, but we had a lot of missed tackles on their straight-ahead running, something that we need to clean up,” said True.

Fumbles on consecutive series gave Cony solid field position, and the Rams took advantage after the Eagles switched to a 4-3 defense, with Lucas mixing in screen and swing passes for the remainder of the first half to extend the lead.

St. Michel scored his third TD of the first quarter on a 13-yard pass from Lucas, and the quarterback hooked up with Chandler Shostak (42 yards), Dayshawn Roberts (18) and Tayler Carrier (38) for three more TD strikes for a 43-0 lead at the half.

Cony’s starters returned for the opening series of the second half, with Mt. Ararat’s defense holding on downs, but the Rams made it a shutout of the Eagle starters when Carrier intercepted a Jake Liedman pass — Mt. Ararat’s four turnover.

“Since the season began, from training camp on, we have preached that penalties and turnovers are the things that will hurt us, and they continue to do so,” said True.

Both teams turned to the backups the rest of the way, with Mt. Ararat’s second team finding success against Cony’s reserves.

Greg Wallace scampered around the left end for a 7- yard score to complete a 12- play, six-minute drive, and ran in the 2-point conversion in the third quarter to get the Eagles on the board, and running back Matt Laurelez scorched the Rams defense for 146 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter as the Eagles accumulated 254 yards of offense in the second half. Dylan Johnson returned an interception 63 yards for another Mt. Ararat score, while Brandon Dionne caught a 33-yard pass from Johnson.

“It is important for the younger guys to get some success,” said True, who watched his team rush for 282 yards (221 in the second half) on 48 carries.

Cony’s John Bennett returned a kickoff 70 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown, and Reid Shostak scored on a 2-yard run to complete the Rams’ 57-28 victory

Cony 57,
Mt. Ararat 28

At Topsham
Cony — 21 22 0 14 — 57
Mt.Ararat– 0 0820—28
First quarter
C — Brandon St. Michel 16 run (Zach
Lachance kick), 10:08.
C — Brandon St. Michel 6 run (Zach
Lachance kick), 2:41.
C — Brandon St. Michel 13 pass from
Ben Lucas (Zach Lachance kick), :29.
Second quarter
C — Chandler Shostak 42 pass from
Ben Lucas (Zach Lachance kick),
10:13.
C — Dayshawn Roberts 18 pass from
Ben Lucas (Zach Lachance kick), 5:19.
C — Tayler Carrier 38 pass from Ben
Lucas (Chandler Shostak pass from
Ben Lucas), 1:43.
Third quarter
MA — Greg Wallace 7 run (Greg Wallace run), :29.
Fourth quarter
MA — Matt Laurelez 11 run (Matt Laurelez run), 5:30.
C — John Bennett 70 kickoff return
(Anthony Brunnell pass from Mitchell
Caron), 5:13.
MA — Matt Laurelez 72 run (run
failed), 4:33.
MA — Dylan Johnson 63 interception
return (run failed), 2:27.
C — Reid Shostak 2 run (pass failed),
:36.
Records — Cony 2-1, Mt. Ararat 0-3.
Next for the Eagles — Friday at home
against 3-0 Lawrence, 7 p.m.