TOPSHAM  — Both Maranacook and Mt. Ararat were victorious last week with the introduction to eight-man football in Maine, making Saturday’s clash at the Topsham Fairgrounds an intriguing matchup.

The Black Bears put up 38 points, led by senior quarterback Garit Laliberte’s 366 total yards to improve to 2-0 with a 38-18 victory over Mt. Ararat.

“Last week we had a lot of unnecessary flags,” Maranacook coach Jordan DeMillo said. “We had some big plays last week, but it always seemed like we had an illegal formation going on. Today was a different story and our team executed, it was a good win.”

Laliberte was 9-for-19 with 223 yards passing and rushed for 143 yards on the ground on 20 carries. The senior threw for four touchdowns, while running in a pair.

“The kid has great vision, if he doesn’t have something downfield, he knows he has to tuck and go,” DeMillo said. “He’s one of the best athletes on the field.”

Although the scoreboard showed a 20-point loss, the game was closer than score indicated.

“For the most part we handled their size up front,” Mt. Ararat coach Frank True said of his defensive line. “We did a good job at the line, just when their quarterback was flushed out, he was able to gain yardage.”

Mt. Ararat took an early lead, early as in returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. After initially fumbling the kick, Holden Brannan picked up the ball and found some holes, sprinting to the endzone for an 83-yard touchdown. The pass completion was short on the two-point conversion and the Eagles held an early 6-0 lead.

“I know we always have an opportunity to score on those types of plays because of speed and blocking,” Brannan said. “I was feeling confident in myself that I could have some good returns today.”

Brannan accumulated over 145 return yards on the day.

Maranacook ate up some clock to open the third quarter, driving deep in to Eagles territory but was unable to score when stopped by the defense, including a tackle by Mt. Ararat senior Jed Rice to turn the ball over on downs.

Laliberte capped off his sensational afternoon with a 28-yard touchdown run to give the Black Bears a late 38-18 lead.