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TOPSHAM — It’s no secret that Dash Farrell is the motor of Mt. Ararat’s offense. It’s the knowledge of how slow him down that remains as elusive for defenses as the senior running back himself.

“Kid’s a beast,” Mt. Ararat head coach Frank True said. “Kid’s a beast. I mean he’s banged up, he’s cramping up, but he’s Dash Farrell, man. He’s Superman on our team. We love him.”

Farrell’s 245-yard and six-touchdown performance too much for defending 8-man Small School champion Orono to stop Friday, as the Eagles won 56-26 and snapped the Red Riots’ 12-game win streak.

From the opening drive, the home team’s game plan was clear: run the ball and run the clock. Mt. Ararat (3-0) routinely turned to junior running back Nick Doughty (25 rush, 163 yards, TD) to chip away at the Orono (2-1) defense before setting up Farrell at or near the goal line to finish off the long drives.

“The way we play football, we are going to keep grinding out, and by the time we get to the second half, third and fourth quarter, our conditioning takes over,” True said. “The six-minute drives weren’t accidents. That was part of our game plan, to keep the ball away from them as much as we could, and execute and obviously score when we had it.”

The Eagles maintained possession for just under 33 minutes and gained 498 yards of total offense, a combination that eventually tired the Red Riots’ two-way players.

“We knew their game plan,” Orono coach Bob Sinclair said. “They executed it perfectly. I mean, that’s a very physical, very good football team. We just couldn’t get the ball back and made some mistakes. You can’t do that against a team like this, because you have to take your chances. Defensively, we didn’t have any answers for their off-tackle.”

Farrell scored three times off the tackle in the first half (6, 41, and 4 yards runs) and thrice more in the second half (1, 43 and 42 yards).

“I’m here all game,” Farrell said about his strong finish. “If you want to beat us, you’ve got to beat me for all four quarters. I’m coming full speed every single time, so you better be ready.”

He also contributed on defense by breaking up a couple passes and setting up an interception by junior Micah Westbrooks.

“On defense, I’m not even supposed to be in coverage, but I just saw a dude uncovered, so I had to get over there and make a play,” Farrell said. “Really just a team game, be there for my teammates when they mess up, and they were there for me, too.”

Despite being down 14-0 at the end of the first and 22-6 at halftime, Orono senior quarterback Jack Brewer was proud of his team’s effort.

“We didn’t give up, that’s for sure,” Brewer said. “Every play there was full effort on the field. It’s good to see in a game like this you still stick together with your boys.”

Brewer (19 of 28, 303 yards, 3 TD, 2 interceptions) stuck with senior wideout Will Francis throughout, finding him a total of 11 times for 250 yards and three scores (56 yards, 28 yards, and a 7-yard, one-handed grab). In the fourth quarter, Francis returned a 78-yard kickoff for a touchdown.

“He makes it easy on me,” Brewer said of Francis, “and I made it hard on him tonight. I didn’t push the ball as much as I should’ve, and he had to make a lot of back-shoulder catches, but he did a great job.”

Mt. Ararat senior quarterback Trent Bailey had the opportunity to sling the ball as well, completing four of his six passes for 84 yards and a touchdown to senior Kurt Coen.

“Hats off to them and their coaching staff,” Sinclair said. “Like I told our kids, we didn’t lose the football game, we got beat. There’s a difference between losing and getting beat. That’s a team that is going to be tough to handle in their division, for sure.”