Westbrook 42

South Portland 18

The Westbrook Blue Blazes overcame an early 12-point deficit against the South Portland Red Riots en route to a 42-18 victory Saturday afternoon. With the win, Westbrook improves to 2-4, and South Portland drops to 2-4 with the loss.

After a shaky first quarter that saw South Portland go ahead 12-0, force a Westbrook fumble on a kickoff and intercept a pass from Brian Doyle, the Blazes regrouped on both sides of the ball, pulling out a much needed win.

“The kids played great,” said Westbrook head coach Daryle Weiss. “They deserve all the credit. They came out and played hard.”

On offense, Blazes quarterback Brian Doyle threw for 96 yards and scored on a 12-yard keeper, tailback Patrick Webber ran for 52 yards and scored two touchdowns, and fullback Joel Chadbourne rushed for 65 yards and scored once. On defense, the Blazes recovered a South Portland fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and picked off four throws from South Portland quarterback David Hardison, one run back for a touchdown by Doyle.

“We made some plays early, got the ball rolling, but made too many mistakes,” said South Portland head coach Steve Stinson. “There were a lot of turnovers, a lot of poor decisions in the kicking game, and some defensive busts. We got thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball.”

South Portland opened with a 75-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard touchdown rush by tailback Tuan Tran. During the kick return, the Red Riots got the ball back after forcing a Blazes fumble. On the next play, David Hartison hit Nick Gaddar with a 31-yard touchdown pass to put South Portland up 12-0.

Gaddar finished the game with 127 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and Tran rushed for 96 yards and one touchdown.

Westbrook’s next possession ended quickly when Hardison intercepted a Doyle pass.

By the end of the first quarter, Westbrook was down, with nothing going right. The spark for the turnaround came when the defense forced the Red Riots to punt, and Doyle led the team on a drive that covered almost the entire field. Doyle hit key passes to Ollie Steele, both on fourth down, with one going nearly 60 yards, to bring the Blazes close to the end zone. Webber completed the drive with a five-yard touchdown rush.

On South Portland’s next possession, Doyle intercepted a Hardison pass and returned it 30 yards to the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.

“Brian had a great game,” said Weiss. “Not only tackling and playing quarterback, but those picks and just being in the right place at the right time. He’s a real smart kid, and I’m proud of his effort.”

South Portland’s following possession saw another key turnover that resulted in another Westbrook touchdown. A bad snap on a punt attempt turned into a fumble that Westbrook recovered in the end zone. A successful two-point conversion made the score 20-12 in favor of the Blazes.

Early in the third quarter, with the Red Riots in control of the football, Justin Richards intercepted a Hardison pass, and the Blazes were able to convert that turnover into points with a six yard drive that finished with a one-yard touchdown rush by Chadbourne, making the score 26-12.

“I’ve been telling the kids, ‘Let’s try and go out and perform our defense the way that it’s drawn up in the playbook,’ and they did today,” said Weiss. “We underplayed people the correct way in the flat, and fortunately we had guys make great plays.”

Near the end of the third, Webber grabbed the fourth interception off Hardison. The Blazes converted that turnover into points on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Doyle scored on a 12-yard QB keeper, making the score 34-12 after the two-point conversion.

“It’s nice when everything’s clicking and the kids are working hard, you can really spread it around and so some different things,” said Weiss. “Lining up and being able to run some power offense, as well as the spread, was something that we had an idea about doing today. (Webber), the offensive line, (Chadbourne), all those guys played great today.”

The final two touchdowns of the game came on Gaddar’s second touchdown reception from Hardison, bringing the score to 34-18, and finally on Webber’s 10 yard touchdown rush in the fourth, making the final score 42-18.

“We’ll host Deering here next Saturday, and they’re obviously a very strong team,” said Stinson. “We’re going to need a much more inspired performance than today.”

Westbrook will play Gorham at Olmsted Field in Westbrook on Friday, Oct. 12.