Knights undefeated with 54-0 win

    The Houlton Knights football team, 2-0, traveled to Kenduskeag last Saturday for a showdown under the lights against Southern division rivals BCH Knights in perfect football weather. A large “Kenduskeag Festival Day” crowd from both Houlton and the Bangor area was awed and entertained by the high-scoring team from Houlton, which came away with a 54-0 triumph.
Photograph courtesy of Theresa Bragan
TACKLED — Senior Mike Ring, No. 34, gets tackled on the play, while teammate Lucas Flewelling awaits the outcome of the play.
    From the opening kick off Houlton began the onslaught.
    In the first quarter, Tailback Caleb Black went wide right for a 38-yard score on the first play of the game. He converted the extra point. Quarterback Quinn Harris followed up on the second possession with a nifty 12-yard bootleg to the end zone. Fullback Mike Ring converted, while Eddie Flint bulled in from five yards, with Ring converting the extra point, for the third consecutive scored in as many Knights’ possessions for a 21-0 lead.
    In the second quarter after a 24-yard run by Aaron Eastman and a 15-yard gain by Black, Eastman rumbled in from the one-yard line. Black then converted the extra point. Flint went left on the next possession for an 11-yard touchdown, with the extra point coming up short.
    On the next possession, Harris took a six-yard keeper in for the tally, with Joel Redman converting the extra point for a 41-0 shellacking.
    Knights Head Coach Brian Reynolds began inserting players from his depth chart midway through the second quarter with positive results. He gave an inspirational speech to his charges and the third quarter was on, said assistant coach Andy Hay.
    Playing a younger offense, quarterback Hunter Hanning swept right from nine yards to hit pay dirt, even though the extra point failed. On the last Houlton possession, Tailback Redman took the ball in from the seven-yard line, with a Mitchell Vargas conversion, concluding an improbable eight possession, eight score game.
    The game was called at the end of the third by field officials because of an injury delay and curfew considerations.
    “This game was not only won by offense, but by a stingy defense, which swarmed and smothered BCH,” Hay said.
    The Knights held BCH to 49 total yards (20-of-28 yards rushing; 1-of-12 passing for 21 yards; 1 interception and 1 first down). The Knights gained a remarkable efficient 250 yards on 31 carries, eight of which were for three yard extra point attempts.
    Brian Tuttle led all Houlton tacklers with six stops. Flint had five tackles, one sack and an interception. Dan Toby recovered a fumble after a hard hit by James Grant and Nate Wiggin in the first quarter, which jarred the ball loose from a BCH runner.
    “Coach John Smith’s interior defensive line forced BCH offense to the outside and harassed the passing game throughout the contest,” said Hay.
    “The big Knight offensive line of Bragan, Toby and Ramsey or Seeley-Jones (averaging more than 260 pounds across the front) dominated, according to Smith.
    Coach Richard Cleary added, “the game was a phenomenal display of firepower.”
    Reynolds praised the grit of the BCH squad.
    “They are a young team with plenty of potential,” he said. “We were fortunate to get an exceptional performance from all of our players in this game. We played all of them. They have worked hard since the beginning of August to get to this level.”
    “The kids believe in each other,” added Hay. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
    The Knights drew a bye next week, but will resume play on Saturday, Sept. 25 in Milo.