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SACO — The rain and wind couldn’t stop Thornton Academy senior Connor Ayoob from adding another three touchdowns to his season total as the Golden Trojans wrapped up the regular season with a 27-14 win over Noble on Thursday.
The teams entered the night with identical records, and the victory keeps Thornton (8-1) in first place in the Class A South Crabtree standings.
“Last time regular season playing here, it was an emotional night, but glad we got the win, still,” Ayoob said. “Job’s not finished.”
Thornton will face No. 4 South Portland in next week’s South semifinals, while third-seeded Noble (7-2) will play at No. 2 Bonny Eagle (7-1).
Ayoob scored all three of his touchdowns after the teams played to a 7-7 stalemate in the first half. He now has 23 TDs this season.
Thornton’s defense also shined in the second half, knocking down passes and forcing a couple of turnovers on downs.
SCORING PLAYS
• Dominic Hussey’s 2-yard touchdown run opened the scoring in the second quarter. A couple of Ayoob runs helped advance the ball into the red zone.
“It was just that toughness, showing that we’re a very physical team, and getting in from the 2-yard line just showed our toughness,” Thornton junior quarterback Noah Fullerton said.
• Noble QB Mark Lapointe’s 17-yard laser throw into the hands of Jackson Mulligan tied the game at 7-7. The Knights then blocked a field goal in the final minute of the second quarter to send the teams deadlocked into halftime.
“(Mulligan’s) a great player,” Noble coach Keenon Blindow said. “He’s a little banged up, but he’s our heart and soul on the defense, along with our linebackers. Offensively, he did some great things, and he ran a great route and was all over the back of the end zone when he caught it.”
• Ayoob scored his touchdown on a 10-yard run shortly after grabbing the ball on an onside kick attempt by Noble. The Knights blocked the PAT to keep Thornton’s lead at 13-7.
• Ayoob found the end zone again on a short run later in the third quarter. The Trojans’ lead was 19-7 after its 2-point conversion attempt was stopped short by Noble’s defensive line.
• In the fourth quarter, Lapointe threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Keefe, cutting Noble’s deficit to 19-14.
“Mark played really well, he’s a competitor, he works really hard at his craft, and he did some great things on a stormy night, and we’re excited to do it in the future,” Blindow said of the junior. “Really proud of the way he competed tonight.”
• Ayoob’s final touchdown was a 23-yard run on third-and-long.
“He’s got great balance, good vision; tough for one guy to tackle,” Thornton coach Kevin Kezal said. “He’s got deceptive speed. He’s done a phenomenal job (this year), he did a great job for us last year as a junior and really worked hard in the offseason, just made himself a little better football player, and it’s really showing.”
THEY SAID IT
• “When they come in, we say, ‘You want to leave your mark on the program, leave it better then when you came in,’ and this group, like most of our groups do, they take that to heart. We’ve got 24 seniors, and it’s a great group of kids that have worked really hard and have a lot of pride in the program and played their hearts out, played a lot of football for us.” — Kevin Kezal, Thornton Academy coach
• “We went in last year as a three seed at Bonny Eagle, and we upset them; we won. We fully expect to go in there this year, it’s going to be a hostile environment, it’s going to be a battle. Coach Cooper’s a great coach, and they’re a great team, and we’re going to do what we can to give it our best shot and get it.” — Keenon Blindow, Noble coach
• “It’s a different season, you’ve got a one-game season. We come in Monday, we’re zero and zero … we can’t carry points over, doesn’t mean anything. … South Portland’s playing really good football right now, rallied from their early season stuff. We’ve got our work cut out.” — Kezal
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