Cony coach B.L. Lippert was pleased with how his team recovered not only mentally from squandering a 21-0 lead to Mt. Blue in the first half last Friday night, but physically.
“We were worn down a little bit but we recovered at halftime and played pretty well in the second half,” he said.
Lippert liked how the Rams stood toe-to-toe with a physical opponent despite having a number of players playing on both sides of the ball.
The Rams came flying out of the locker room after intermission, putting up 20 unanswered points to pull away for a 41-22 win over a Mt. Blue team that ended their season with a 20-point comeback win in the PTC B quarterfinals last year.
Cony’s offense revolved around senior quarterback Taylor Heath and junior wide receiver Jordan Roddy in the first half. The duo connected 10 times, including touchdowns of 26, 3 and 20 yards, to build the 21-0 lead.
Roddy, who battled cramps for part of the second half, added a fourth touchdown catch, from 26 yards, to put the Rams ahead in the third quarter and also had a 5-yard touchdown run to put the game away. He finished with 11 catches for 147 yards, two rushes for 23 yards and five touchdowns.
Heath capped off his impressive day (17-for-25, 244 yards, 4 TDs) with a pair of short completions and a lateral to Chad Bickford. The senior wide receiver converted the lateral into an 81-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Anthony Sousa.
No doubt the razzle-dazzle throws a wrinkle at opponents who will be focused on stopping Roddy. The Rams host Messalonskee on Friday.
With a defense set up to defend spread offenses like Cony’s and a formidable running game led by Austin Pelletier and Colby Dexter — who combined for 281 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in a 45-21 win over Gardiner — the Eagles will present a challenge for the Rams on both sides of the ball.
“They’re very athletic,” Lippert said. “They’ve got three or four running backs that can really run. Their offensive line gets off the ball really well.”
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Winthrop/Monmouth senior quarterback Matt Ingram has been involved in some big plays for touchdowns during his career. They’ve come almost exclusively via his arm.
In last Saturday’s 41-22 win over Lisbon, Ingram showed he can make some plays with his legs. He had a 22 yard run to help set up a touchdown on the Ramblers opening drive of the season. In the second half, he topped that with a 38-yard touchdown run.
Ingram said the run was a product of the coaching staff putting more trust in their three-year starter to tuck the ball in and run.
“In the past years we’ve been focused more on the pass game, but they’ve seen that I have the capability of running. They gave me the space to do that and told me if I saw open field I could just go and take it,” Ingram said.
Blocks by Nate Scott and Antonio Meucci helped spring Ingram, who did a good job of warding off one last Lisbon tackler while keeping his feet inbounds in front of his team’s sideline.
Winthrop/Monmouth coach Dave St. Hilaire said Ingram has always had the green light to use his legs when he’s under pressure. This year, though, the game plan is taking more advantage of his athleticism and his ability to read defenses.
“We’ve got more plays designed for him to run,” St. Hilaire said. “He’s more confident and comfortable. He’s just matured so well. He’s confident that he can do a lot of things.”
Ingram (seven carries, 74 yards) and Alec Brown (13 carries, 87 yard, TD) helped Winthrop/Monmouth ramble for nearly 200 yards on the ground Saturday. Making that production even more impressive was the fact that the Ramblers were without their heralded depth at the line of scrimmage.
“We were a little short. We had two guards that were out, so we had to pull a sophomore tight end (Keegan Groover) into that rotation at guard,” St. Hilaire said. “With the Wing T, we like having five guys that are ready to go and we only had three, so we pressed a fourth in there two days ago.
Groover, who also started at defensive end and plays on special teams, saw even more time at guard than originally planned after the Ramblers lost senior Jack Vickerson in the second quarter.
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Around the state: With Saturday’s 22-8 victory over Poland, Freeport won for the first time since 2014. Freeport’s last win had come over Mountain Valley in Week 7 of the 2014. The Falcons will go for two wins in a row this week, but it will be tough. Freeport plays at Class C South favorite Wells on Friday… Hermon also won its first game since 2014, beating John Bapst 28-20 on Friday night. The Hawks losing streak had been 13 games, with the last win coming against Camden Hills in Week 3 of 2014… With the Campbell Conference Class D’s seven games in eight weeks schedule, Old Orchard Beach and Traip Academy had their bye week in Week 1. Both will open the season Saturday, Old Orchard at three-time defending state champ Oak Hill, and Traip hosting Winthrop/Monmouth… Replacing John Wolfgram won’t be easy, but new Cheverus head coach Mike Vance won his first game, 33-18, at Oxford Hills. Wolfgram, who won 309 games and 10 state titles at Madison, Gardiner, South Portland and Cheverus, retired in April.
Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this report.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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