STANDISH — Connor Sirois, the new Bonny Eagle quarterback, had reason to smile after Friday’s 55-7 thumping of rival Windham in Friday’s interdivisional Class A matchup.
Not just because the defending state champion Scots had improved to 2-0. He was also smiling because he knows the talent he has around him.
“We call plays that are not for one person, they’re for whoever’s open,” Sirois said. “We’ve got so many weapons. I hand the ball off to two of the best running backs in the state every day so it’s pretty awesome.”
Alex Sprague rushed for 170 yards and two scores, capping his night with a 70-yard tackle-breaking sweep around right end that displayed both his power and speed. Nick Thorne had four touchdowns on just eight carries (81 yards), bruising his way through the Windham line.
Bonny Eagle’s Casey Maturo drives with the ball as Windham’s Grant Jacobson, left, and Watson Nathan move in to make the tackle.
“Our offensive skill group is pretty good,” said Bonny Eagle Coach Kevin Cooper. “We were able to mix the ball around and when we’re able to do that we’re pretty tough to stop.”
Sirois did his part with 52 rushing yards with a 5-yard TD while going 8 for 8 for 133 yards passing, including a key 18-yarder to Christian Napolitano on third-and-20 to set up Thorne’s 22-yard rumble to open the scoring.
Windham (1-1 in the North) was sharp on its opening 67-yard drive and tied the game 7-7 on a 2-yard run by Treva Valliere. A wide receiver pass by Nazari Henderson on fourth down to Grant Jacobson (7 catches, 81 yards) kept the drive moving.
Windham’s Stuart Salom follows the block of Garrett Peeples for some extra yardage against Bonny Eagle on Friday.
Bonny Eagle led 35-7 at the half and scored on seven of its first eight possessions; the exception came when it got the ball with nine seconds left in the first half.
Thorne capped a 62-yard drive with a 3-yard run on a direct snap.
Then the Bonny Eagle defense, led by end Arlo Pike, started to get the range on shifty and hard-running Windham back Stuart Salom (19 carries, 80 yards). With the exception of some quick passes over the middle from Tanner Bernier to Jacobson, the Eagles were running out of offensive options.
“We had some troubles getting some of our second runs going,” said Windham Coach Matt Perkins. “They did a good job defensively. They hunkered down. I thought our quarterback had some really great throws and did a really good job delivering the ball and we just didn’t have an answer for them on defense.”
A 31-yard punt return by Kordell Menard and then a Sirois-to-Menard 38-yard hookup set up Sirois’ touchdown run.
Bonny Eagle’s Cordell Menard comes down with a 38-yard reception against Windham Friday night. On defense for Windham is Hunter Coffin, left, and Grant Jacobson.
Sprague returned the next Windham punt 51 yards to the Eagles’ 19 and scored himself three plays later from the 2.
Thorne capped the first-half scoring with a 13-yard run after a rare Bonny Eagle mistake – a holding call – had wiped out a Sprague touchdown.
Thorne (17 yards), Sprague (70 yards) and Zach Maturo (6 yards) had second-half rushing touchdowns.
The Scots opened with a 48-0 win against Sanford but can keep improving, Thorne said.
“Day by day you can get better, every single time. Every day we walk into practice (Cooper) is drilling it into us to get better and just working hard every day,” Thorne said.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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