SANFORD — Coach Mike Fallon’s Sanford squad has done a lot more than just throwing a monkey off its back with last week’s 22-0 win against Noble; the team’s first win in more than a year.

“It got a gorilla off our back,” Fallon said earlier this week. “That was big for this team and our mentality.”

Fallon has spent the past week preparing the Redskins for tonight’s road game at Marshwood, but this week, expectedly, has been different.

The team is focused, he said, and is continuing to work harder than he has seen.

“They understand that the win is good, but they can’t rest on that win,” he said. “They are focused and are working harder this week than at any other point last year.”

Fallon’s not saying the players didn’t work hard last season, but winning can ignite a fire under a team and become and addiction.

The Redskins’ psyches have changed. Last season the players went into each game, not expecting to lose, but not expecting tof win, either. While last Friday’s victory was the first in a long season, it goes a long way in helping this Redskins team.

Last season, Fallon said, Sanford would make mistakes in a game and those mistakes would snowball.

“The kids let it get to them a little,” he said.

That is different now. Against Noble, Sanford drove the length of the field three times and spent most of the first half in Noble territory. The score at halftime, however, was 7-0, Sanford.

“The players could’ve looked at that and thought ”˜we outplayed them, but we’re not winning by much, so here we go again,’” Fallon said. “They didn’t do that. They went into halftime and we talked about what we needed to do to win the game. We made the adjustments and came away with a good win.”

It’s that mentality that the Redskins will take into tonight’s game. Marshwood, which lost to Biddeford on opening night, 27-0, won’t roll over for Sanford, but neither will the Redskins.

Sanford has experience with players such as Shawn Goodrich, Jr., RB; Ryan Legere, Sr., RB; Joe Kowalski, Sr., RB; Andrew Stefanilo, Sr., RB; Aaron Marshall, Jr., RB; Spencer Wiegand, Sr., QB; Gage Lebeuf, Sr., OT; Pat Mahoney, Sr., OT; Jon Anatra, Jr., OL/LB; Matt Roberts, Sr., OG; Ben Gagnon, Sr., OG; Dakota Waterhouse, Sr., WR; Greg Caldwell, Sr., WR.

These players are key against Marshwood tonight.

“We are experienced this year,” Fallon said. “They understand how to play and how to play as a unit, which makes life a little easier.”

Against Marshwood, Sanford will need to continue to spread the ball out on offense while maintaining Marshwood QB Troy Pappas and runningback Dan Lennon, if it wants to build a winning streak.

Either way, Sanford already has that gorilla off its back and with the lighter load, it might run to a few more victories.

— Contact Sports Editer Al Edwards at 282-1535, Ext. 317.