READFIELD — Football is a team game. But Chris Reid certainly made it almost look like a one-man show for the Maranacook football team on Friday night.
Reid, a senior quarterback, had 110 passing yards, 70 rushing yards and accounted for five touchdowns (three rushing, two passing) to lead the Black Bears to a 38-0 win over Boothbay at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams. If that wasn’t enough, Reid had three interceptions as a safety on defense. Maranacook forced seven turnovers out of the Seahawks during the game.
“It’s funny, we never actually had him on defense until last week when we needed him to play defense,” said Maranacook assistant coach Jacob Bessey, who was filling in for head coach Jordan DeMillo for the evening. “Then he had a pick-six last week… He’s a special athlete. He’s 100 percent all the time, and he loves to score, loves to play. He’s pretty good, pretty special.”
It was the first win of the season for Maranacook (1-2), which didn’t start its regular season until Sept. 17.
“Honestly, this season, with COVID and everything else, we have not had a lot of time to practice as a full team and play,” Reid said. “This has been our first good week back at practice, and I feel like everything just came together tonight.”
The Black Bears forced four of Boothbay’s turnovers in the first quarter alone, capitalizing with touchdowns on each of the ensuing drives. Two of those touchdowns were capped on scoring runs by Reid (one of 16 yards, one of 4 yards), another finished by a 9-yard pass to Seth White. By the end of the period, Maranacook had a 20-0 lead.
Maranac00k would score on another pass in the second quarter. Reid found Travis Lemelin in the flat, who promptly shook one defender and sprinted down the field for a 74-yard score. The Black Bears entered halftime with a 26-0 lead.
“Our offense was crisp today,” Bessey said. “We didn’t have six fumbles like we had in the Telstar game (on Sept. 25) or bad snaps all over the place. It just looked so much better today than the last couple weeks.”
Maranacook’s Owen Dunn kicks off against Boothbay during a football game Friday in Readfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Maranacook scored again on its second possession of the third quarter. Running back Owen Dunn took an inside handoff and was untouched as he darted down the field for a 37-yard touchdown. The Black Bears added a final touchdown, a 1-yard score from Reid, in the fourth quarter.
“A night like this is amazing,” Reid said. “Just so much momentum (going forward), 38-0, especially that we hold them to no score. It just shows how good our football team can really be.”
Dunn finished with 44 rushing yards, while Mark Beach added 34 rushing yards for Maranacook.
Boothbay showed fight throughout the contest but was outmanned by the Black Bears, who held the Seahawks offense to 117 total yards. Boothbay quarterback Ashton McLellan led the Seahawks with 50 rushing yards.
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