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Bonny Eagle coach Kevin Cooper shook his head. The Fitzpatrick Stadium scoreboard said his unbeaten team had topped Portland, 34-7. But it wasn’t easy.

“A 34-7 win shouldn’t be as stressful. It was a little stressful tonight,” Cooper said.

It was that type of night. The Scots, now 6-0 and alone at the top of Class A South, struggled to get untracked in the first half against a determined Portland team dealing with a second straight emotionally challenging week.

The Bulldogs played without senior quarterback Cordell Jones, Maine’s Gatorade Player in 2024 who has committed to play at the University of Maine. First-year Portland coach Nick Cliche said it was a coach’s decision to keep the Jones out of Friday’s game. Jones was on the Portland sideline. Cliche said Portland’s all-time touchdown and scoring leader will be back next week when the Bulldogs (4-2) play at Lewiston.

Jones’ absence came one week after Portland lost 36-0 to Thornton Academy. That game was played a day after the death of Ryan Jordan, a well-known Portland youth coach and league administrator and the father of two Portland players.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Cliche said. “We’ve had a really rough two weeks, and I don’t know if anybody really understands the depth of what our kids have gone through for two weeks, but our kids fought to the very end against a high-class, extremely well-coached football program.”

Bonny Eagle led 6-0 at the half. It’s touchdown came on a 54-yard run by Lucas Klehn, who broke tackles just after picking up a first down on fourth-and-1, getting out of a pack of bodies before racing to the end zone. Bonny Eagle had lined up to punt on fourth-and-6 but opted to go for it after the Portland defense was called for lining up offsides.

Bonny Eagle gained just 46 yards on its other 17 first-half plays.

“I think we have to give credit to the Portland kids, Coach Cliche, and his staff. I thought they did a great job preparing for us, especially without their key guy. What they did on offense to manage the game was tough on us,” Cooper said.

Portland started junior Reece Wildes at quarterback but relied heavily on Alex Martin, first as a running back and then in the second half as a Wildcat quarterback in a double-wing formation. Martin finished with 26 carries, gaining 123 yards and scoring on a 2-yard run to cut Bonny Eagle’s lead to 12-7 in the third quarter. Martin ran the ball on nine of the 10 plays on the drive. His touchdown was only the third allowed by Bonny Eagle’s defense this season.

“Alex put the team on his back tonight. He ran really well,” Cliche said. “Alex did an unbelievable job helping us move the chains; we just couldn’t get over the top.”

BONNY EAGLE BREAKS IT OPEN

Bonny Eagle senior quarterback Colin Moran (7 of 10 passing, 157 yards) threw three second-half touchdowns.

“(Coach) Coop just really stuck a message to us that we can’t overlook these guys and we have to play to our full potential,” Moran said. “We picked it up from there.”

Moran connected with Drew Gervais for touchdowns of 8 and 49 yards and tossed a 40-yarder to running back Colby McCormack, who turned a quick swing pass into a score.

Gervais’ second touchdown came one play after Martin put Portland on the board.

Moran finished the scoring with a 70-yard run, one play after McCormack intercepted a pass. Moran (14 carries, 114 yards), Klehn (3 carries, 61 yards) and McCormack (9 carries, 46 yards) combined for 221 rushing yards.

“Honestly, today we thought it was an off day for offense,” McCormack said. “Every possession, we expect a touchdown. We know what we can do.”

PORTLAND LOOKING AHEAD

Portland got starting receivers/defensive backs Maddox Meas and Charlie Abramson-Thompson back from injury. Martin showed he can be the primary ballcarrier, which can lessen what had been a very heavy load on Jones through five weeks.

Now the Bulldogs, who lead Class A North, have a chance to show they can grow from shared adversity, Cliche said.

“We’re a dangerous football team when we put all the pieces together. We play really hard with a lot of effort,” Cliche said. “We’ve been really banged up, too. The adversity is deep. But we will get healthy at the right time, and honestly, I think we’ll make a deep playoff run. And we expect to be standing on this field in late November playing for a state championship.”