BIDDEFORD — On the night that longtime Biddeford head coach Brian Curit won his 100th game, the Tigers gave a throwback effort in shutting out Noble 35-0 at Waterhouse Field on Friday.

The Biddeford (1-1) defense held the Knights (1-1) to just 78 yards total in the game, including eight in the first quarter. The Tigers came out firing on that side of the ball from the first snap, dropping Tyler Merrill for a 1-yard loss on a pass from Otto Keisker, who eluded pressure to get the throw off. Merrill was then stopped for no gain on a run and Keisker was sacked by Josh Dutremble to end the series.

“We knew we had to come out strong, and we had to make the first hit, and that’s what we did,” said junior inside linebacker Austin Dutremble. “All of us were pumped for this game and ready. Ready to redeem ourselves from last week.”

Last week was a loss to Marshwood that Curit would soon forget.

“We played real hard last week, when I thought we did enough to beat ourselves. I don’t want to take anything from Marshwood. Marshwood’s a great team … but at the same time, I thought we did enough to jeopardize our chances of winning,” said Curit. “Today, I thought we didn’t play perfect, but guess what, I thought we improved a lot.”

A short punt put Biddeford in good field position for its first drive and the Tigers took advantage. After four straight runs that combined for 14 yards, Curit’s son, Joey, threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Cody Ramos to put Biddeford on the board.

Noble fumbled on its next play after a good kickoff return, but Biddeford’s ensuing drive stalled. The Knights got their initial first down but little else, giving the ball back to Curit and the Tiger offense.

Curit and Lucas Rhoy traded runs for much of the 10-play drive, which culminated with a 9-yard touchdown run by Curit to put Biddeford up 13-0 early in the second quarter.

“I’m proud of the way Joey played. He’s throwing the ball real well, and boy does he make good decisions,” said Curit.

Noble finally got its offense going, stringing together plays of 17, 14 and 16 yards, but those were followed by consecutive sacks of Keisker, with Rhoy and Trey Burnham doing the honors.

It was Rhoy’s turn to find paydirt on Biddeford’s next possession, as he rumbled in from one yard out one play after Tyler Janelle went 41 yards on a reverse, as the Tigers took a 21-0 lead that would stand at halftime.

Biddeford held the Knights to just 54 first-half yards, as Noble punted four times, fumbled four times (three recovered by offense) and turned the ball over on downs deep in Biddeford territory.

“All week in practice, we had a great practice focused on the runners – they have some tough runners. We set the game plan, and our game plan worked,” said Dutremble. “It was a big team effort; everyone did their job.”

Curit said Noble’s skill position players frightened him with their potential, but his defense suffocated the Knights from making any game-changing plays.

“I thought we just played really solid football,” Curit said of his defense, making sure to credit each position group. “I thought they all played incredibly solid games.”

It was more of the same for the Noble offense in the second half, with drives ending in a punt, a fumble, a fourth-down sack and one last punt.

Rhoy found the end zone two more times after halftime, on a 1-yard tumble two plays after Austin Dutremble recovered a fumble at the 3-yard line and a 3- yard scamper after the turnover on downs.

Biddeford finished with 356 yards of offense, including 227 in the first half.

With the first win of his 16th season as Biddeford head coach, and third in his second stint, Curit hit the century mark in victories – a milestone that carries weight not lost on the leader of the Tiger’s last state championship team, in 1994.

“I’d be a liar to say that it was not special. My mentor was Mike Landry, and I was a freshman coach in 1990 when he won his 100th. I hold Coach Landry in such esteem,” said Curit. “To be able to have gotten there at my alma mater, a place that … this is the only place that I’ve ever wanted to coach. It’s a special place.

“This is Biddeford, and we pride ourselves on – it might sound corny – bringing the lunch pail to work and working.”

Biddeford did work Friday night. Now, according to Curit, the team will have to go back to work to prepare for 2-0 Falmouth next week.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.