OAKLAND — Revenge sure felt sweet for the Dragons on Friday night at Veterans Field.
Hunter Garrett ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns, all on runs longer than 40 yards, and senior quarterback Christian Jensen ran for two scores and threw for another as Brunswick rolled to a 42-0 win over Messalonskee in a Class B North football game between two teams who were unbeaten heading into the night.
The victory marked the Dragons (4-0) as the favorites in the region at the season’s halfway mark and helped lessen memories of two painful defeats in the last three years to the Eagles.
“We’re going into every game as must-win for us. We want that No. 1 seed,” Brunswick Coach Dan Cooper said. “These kids, they were on those teams that lost to Messalonskee in the past, and they were really, really motivated to come out here and play well.”
Messalonskee had as many first downs in the first half as turnovers, twice killing short-lived drives with fumbles in its own half of the field. Not until late in the third quarter did the Eagles (3-1) even advance into Brunswick territory.
“We got beat by a better team but I still believe in our kids,” Messalonskee Coach Brad Bishop said. “We’ll work our tails off all next week and we’ll bounce back.
From the opening drives, it was clear it was going to be the Dragons’ night.
After a three-and-out for Messalonskee on the game’s first possession, which included a penalty and a fumbled snap, it took only three plays for Brunswick to put points on the board. Garrett ripped off a 69-yard touchdown run just over 31/2 minutes into the first quarter.
Brunswick started the second quarter right where it left off in the first.
A 26-yard Garrett run set up a first and 10 at the Messalonskee 17-yard line. Two plays later, on first-and-goal from the 1, Jensen dove into the end zone for a 14-0 advantage. It was an impressive, almost effortless, eight-play drive that covered 73 yards and ate up four minutes.
Jackson Gordon got the second of his two fumble recoveries just three plays later, jumping on another botched snap and setting up another Jensen 1-yard TD run.
Garrett took a reverse 42 yards for his second touchdown with 2:21 left in the half, and the rout was on.
“We practiced all week. We put in the hard work, and the progress shows,” said Garrett, who missed several days with an illness. “We came out, and we showed up.”
Garrett said he expected a tough battle between playoff-bound teams but felt things swung in Brunswick’s favor following his big run in the first quarter.
“I was expecting a tough battle from the first snap,” Garrett said. “I got a great run behind some good blocks, and we set the momentum right there. From then on, it just wasn’t the same from (Messalonskee).”
In the third quarter, Jensen found Corban Teel for a 27-yard pass over the middle that went for a score and Garrett capped his night with a 50-yard touchdown run.
Messalonskee running back Colby Dexter, who carried six times for just 9 yards, was already looking forward to a potential playoff meeting with Brunswick.
“It’s a wakeup call for us,” Dexter said. “We came in here thinking, ‘We’re going to be good.’ This just showed, we need to work harder.”
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