Varsity Knights stampede Mustangs, 66-20

    HOULTON — Houlton Knights coach Brian Reynolds split his team on Saturday because of a rare scheduling anomaly, sending one squad to Caribou, while hosting the Madawaska Mustangs at Airport Field.
    The Varsity Knights (3-0) ran roughshod over the visiting Mustangs in the first quarter and never looked back as they downed the visitors 66-20 before a large and enthusiastic crowd.
    The Knights got down to business quickly. They took a 53-7 halftime lead thanks to the play call of quarterback Quinn Harris who mixed it up with his arsenal of backfield talent. Tailback Aaron Eastman carried 10 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman standout Jake Drew got the call seven times for 103 yards and two scores. Second-year man Cyrus Brooker showed blazing speed carrying six times for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
FACEMASK — Caleb McGary, left, of the Houlton Knights football team has his facemask pulled by a Mustang defender during Saturday’s game. The Knights romped to a 66-20 win over the Mustangs in a game played in Houlton.
    If the ground game wasn’t impressive enough, the aerial fireworks created by Harris (3 of 5, 70 yards, 3 TDs) and his reserve Hunter Hanning accounted for four more scores. Harris found Hanning for three scores from 2, 52 and 16 yards. Hanning moved under center for the final minutes of the game and hit Caleb McGary for a 16-yard touchdown.
    When the clock reached zero, the Knights had racked up 424 yards of total offense.
    The defense had plenty of stars. Six players had five or more tackles. Eastman, Bill Livzey, Sam St. John, Josh Bragan, Dan Toby with Josh Carmichael leading the pack with 5 and 10 assists to go with a sack. The Knights held Madawaska to 103 yards and scoreless in the first and fourth quarters.
     Coach Bill Alderson was impressed, saying, “These players were definitely ready to play today. It was a great effort by the whole defense.”
    Special teams put the offense in good field position all day. Livzey had 214 all-purpose yards.
    “It was an awesome display. This was the team’s best effort so far this season. I was surprised and pleased with the results.” said  Reynolds. “I’m proud of these kids. We got all the kids in the game. The team is playing well. We have to maintain this intensity. I’m sure Madawaska and the rest of the league will get stronger. We’ll continue to take it one game at a time.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
BUSTING FREE — Billy Livezy, left, of the Houlton Knights gets wrapped around the waist by a Mustang defender Saturday, but managed to break free on this run. In the background is Houlton’s Aaron Eastham (24).
    Reynolds thanked former football coach and fan Steve Martin who maintained the game statistics from the sidelines.
Junior varsity game
    In Caribou Saturday, the junior varsity squad (2-0) team led 27-0 at the end of the first half against the Huskies. Caribou needed help from its varsity team and the second half became a real test for the young Knights. Trading score-for-score in the second half the Houlton team defeated the Huskies 53-25.
    Knights Transfer David Donahue, playing at quarterback, gave the primarily freshman group confidence and stability as they raced off to an early lead. Donahue likes to throw, but took advantage of his ability to assess situations quickly and called his own number on the first two Knights scores, according to coach Andy Hay. Ryan Baptista followed up with two nifty runs off tackle for 15 and 32 yards for two touchdowns.
    Hay gave a lot of the credit to the line play. “Our line worked well as a unit. They gave our running attack an extra added dimension and protected the quarterback in pass situations.”
    In the third quarter, after a Caribou score, Knight speedster Izaak Ramos raced 62 yards for a runback touchdown. On the next series Caribou was forced to punt and Ryan Heath fielded the kick and went 54 yards for an improbable score.
    Donahue found Heath open as they hooked up with a 25 yard pass play into the end zone. Houlton ended their scoring when fullback Devon McLaughlin broke tackles and covered 45 yards for a touchdown.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
SHAKE AND BAKE — Jacob Drew of Houlton fakes out a Mustang defender with a nice juke move.
    “We played defense intelligently and physically …we were able to shutdown the Huskies in the first half.” said Hay.
    Coach Hay praised the work of Brandon Suitter, Nick Hagan, Sabastion Walton and Kyle Ramsey. In the secondary, Kody Williams, Gavin Russell, Dakota Gramour and Caleb Murdock played steady aggressive football.
    “Caribou is well coached and played well today. We broke out early. The special teams produced for us. Our kids worked hard and deserved this win.” concluded Hay.
    The reunited Knights travel to Milo on Saturday to take on the Panthers (0-2).