SANFORD – Two exciting football players stepped onto the turf Friday night at Cobb Stadium.

Sanford High could not stop Windham quarterback Damien Shepard, but contained him.

Windham could not contain Sanford running back Alex Shain.

“Shain is obviously a great runner,” Windham Coach Matt Perkins said.

Shain rushed 25 times for 275 yards and five touchdowns to lead Sanford to an unexpected 34-7 win over Windham.

While both teams came in with 3-3 records, Windham had the tougher schedule, and the Spartans had been inconsistent.

“We’ve been kind of a see-saw team,” Sanford Coach Mike Fallon said. “But we played with great energy tonight.”

Sanford’s defense was swarming to keep Shepard from breaking a big score. Out of the shotgun, Shepard rushed 24 times for 150 yards and a 12-yard touchdown.

“He’s a fast kid,” Sanford linebacker Colby Perigo said. “We fought off blocks and forced him inside or outside, depending on the play.”

It worked. Perigo and others, including linebacker Josh Schroder, linemen Tom Hudson, Chase Roberts-Smith and Jed Scott, were winning the battles on the line.

On one key fourth down, defensive backs Jake Dexter and Tyler Flayhan hauled down Shepard for a loss.

Meanwhile the Spartans’ offense revolved around Shain. He followed a 202-yard, five-touchdown effort last week with an even better one.

“Just a big playmaker,” guard Tyler Neuville said. “He can’t be taken down.”

To prove the point, Shain gave Sanford a 7-0 first-quarter lead on a 65-yard broken-field run, eluding defenders and breaking tackles the whole way.

“He does those intangible things that you can’t account for but you hope happens,” Fallon said.

Shepard tied the game with a 12-yard run in the second quarter. In the closing minutes of the half, Windham was stopped on a fake punt at the Eagles’ 32 with 1:06 left. The Spartans drove and Shain scored from the 2 with five seconds left for a 13-7 halftime lead.

In the second half, Shain kept pounding away, bursting through gaps.

“The line just kept driving and driving,” Shain said. “I had holes to hit. It was just a good night for all of us.”

Windham was still in the game early in the second half.

On the Eagles’ first drive of the half, they reached the Sanford 23 and faced fourth-and-4. That’s when Dexter and Flayhan made their big play, stopping Shepard.

Sanford then drove for a 19-7 lead.

On its next possession, Windham went for it on fourth-and-6 from the Sanford 40. Schroder broke up a pass.

“We didn’t capitalize on big plays and they did,” Perkins said.

Fallon said his team executed, and then some.

“Most importantly, our kids played with great motors,” he said. “A lot of times that’s high school football. If you show up and get your kids energized and they believe in themselves, and they’re flying around the football field, the results are going to be pretty good.

“We’ve been waiting for a night like this.”

Sanford concludes its regular season next Friday at Massabesic. Windham will be home against Bonny Eagle.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH