Claremont
Friday’s season opener against Mascoma, however, flew by as the Cardinals’ offense did almost everything it wanted to against the still-rebuilding Royals, scoring early and often in a 43-6 victory at Barnes Park.
“Watching every single game was really tough,” Bourque said with a smile. “Especially since it happened so early on in the season. … You can definitely see the stuff that you wouldn’t see on the field.”
Bourque didn’t waste any time re-introducing himself to the Stevens faithful on hand. Perhaps more importantly, he and the Stevens coaching staff illustrated a diversity on offense that was missing from last season.
Bourque was 10-for-11 in the air for 178 yards and two touchdown passes to big-time receiver Parker Smith. Richard Bell, who took over the quarterback duties a year ago when Bourque went down, slid back into a more comfortable role as the Cardinals running back, amassing 110 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
With Bourque now healthy, it seems the Cardinals’ offense is finally ready to show all that it can do.
“I’m obviously pleased with the result; the idea is to come out and win,” coach Paul Silva said. “Every coach finds something. We can’t be putting the ball on the ground three times, turning the ball over three times if we want to get where we want to go.”
“Mascoma, if you saw, they’re a good team,” he added. “They’ve got some good running backs. They’re going to be just fine. Just numbers-wise, and we’ve got a lot of guys coming back. I think we just had a little bit more experience than they did tonight.”
Stevens fumbled the ball three times, though the turnovers didn’t hurt as Mascoma’s offense struggled to gain ground. The Cardinals, on the other hand, scored twice in six plays on two offensive drives in the first quarter, both from Bell. Bourque added to it in the second quarter with a 55-yard catch-and-run to Smith in double coverage behind the Mascoma secondary. Smith wracked up five receptions, 117 yards and two touchdowns on Friday night.
For Royals head coach Les Lawrence, falling behind early put his team in a tough spot.
“They have some playmakers,” Lawrence said. “We talked about (it) during the week, we have to control the things we can control. … This week and going forward we have to deal with the things we can control. We can’t control how big or fast or strong (other teams are). … We just don’t have an answer for Parker (Smith).”
Mascoma made a point to slow the game down before the half, stringing together a 10 minute, 37-second drive that ended with a 1-yard score from Royals running back Garrett Williams. The 2-point conversion, however, was unsuccessful, thus ending Mascoma’s offensive production for the night.
“Obviously, we were really pleased with the way the kids reacted,” Lawrence said. “At 22-0, that early, it could have just gone in the tank. The kids really stepped up. That was a nice drive.”
Mascoma’s committee of running backs, shifty runners Tyler Warner, Sheldon Farnsworth and power runner Garrett Williams, combined for 165 yards on the ground. Royals starting quarterback Brandon Gardner was 2-for-4 passing for only three yards.
Stevens tacked on three more touchdowns in the second half, two more from Bell and another catch-and-run combination from Bourque and Smith, who showed plenty of chemistry in the early going. It’s the kind of offensive production, from both the pass and run game, that Silva expected to implement last season before Bourque’s injury.
“We added a few things, but we can diversify,” Silva said. “When we had to move Richard (Bell) to quarterback, we’re making Zach (Stanhope) go back to the tailback. He’s more a fullback. I like the diversity that we have offensively. We just have to stay healthy.”
But Friday’s game, and this season as a whole, has been a long time coming for both the eager Bourque and the Stevens coaching staff. Silva said assistant coaches Josh Duford and Erik Anderson have taken extra time to help develop Bourque, a tough task without on-field experience. Now, the young quarterback will be given a chance to put the off-the-field lessons he learned a year ago into practice.
“I definitely feel more comfortable about this season because we definitely have a lot more of an experienced team,” Bourque said. “I just try to be myself.”
Notes: Silva pointed to freshman middle linebacker Quentin Bicknell as one of his early stars out of preseason training camp, winning the starting job as an underclassman. “He earned the job. He did a great job today as a freshman.” … The Cardinals (1-0) will travel to Somerswoth next week. … Mascoma (0-1) will play its home opener against Farmington-Nute next Saturday.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.