West Canaan
Eager to get his football team moving on a second-half possession, Longphee called for a center snap before the game referee had signaled to the signal caller to start. Suitably chastened, Longphee made sure he got the OK from the official before resuming play, confirming with a grin and a thumbs-up.
Occasionally too quick for the guys with the whistles, Longphee and the Bears were simply too strong for Mascoma in a 45-13 NHIAA Division III win at Mascoma Valley Regional High School. After a pair of three-and-outs to open the afternoon, the Bears (1-4) ran for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns in the first half to earn their first win of the season.
If the methods looked familiar to followers of the Royals (1-4), they should have. Second-year Newfound coach Ray Kershaw has his kids utilizing the same close-to-the-vest strategies that he employed at Mascoma five years ago in a run to what was then the NHIAA Division VI final. A size advantage on the line didn’t hurt in his return.
“In an offense like these, with no splits, this is true, old-school, smash-mouth football, with two double-wing teams,” Mascoma coach Les Lawrence remarked. “They smashed us in the mouth better than we smashed them in the mouth.”
Newfound finished the day with 60 offensive plays from scrimmage — all runs, no passes — for 378 yards, 295 of those before halftime. Eight different players carried the ball, with three of them amassing at least 80 yards on the ground.
“It was just them getting the momentum and working together,” said Kershaw, whose current team also topped his former team as part of a 2-6 campaign in 2016. “They knew what they had to do, and they know how to do it. It’s just all 11 working together. And once they did that, then they were fine.”
The day didn’t begin in ideal fashion for either team. Both squads had issues with their walkie-talkies. On top of that, the Bears showed up in all-green uniforms that the officials said were too close to Mascoma’s all-purple togs to easily differentiate. Newfound was ordered to play in practice pinnies over its shirts, making player identifications nearly impossible.
Beyond that, the visitors couldn’t move the football from deep in their half of the field on their first two opportunities. Kershaw twice disdained the punt for a fourth-down run and was stopped by Mascoma defenders both times, but the Royals had no better success in advancing the ball.
The third drive proved the charm for Newfound. Longphee marched the Bears 80 yards on 11 plays, capped by Aidyn Anderson’s 7-yard toss sweep touchdown with 2:39 left in the first quarter. A short Mascoma punt yielded a short Newfound scoring drive in response, Tieller Mitchell’s 26-yard TD dash making it 16-0 for the Bears following Mitchell’s conversion run with 3.6 seconds on the clock.
“We played Kearsarge last week, and we outweighed them on the line; we were stronger than they were, but they were more disciplined,” Kershaw said. “They were quicker. It’s just working together, that’s what it is.”
Mascoma quarterback Hawk Shawn connected with Dakota Decocq on a 38-yard pass-and-run barely a minute into the second quarter to bring the Royals within 10 points. Mascoma, however, couldn’t win the line battle against its bigger foe, and Newfound added a 37-yard Cameron Anderson scoring run and a 5-yard Mitchell TD along with two more conversion runs for a 32-6 halftime advantage. Longphee and Brett Pigeon provided Newfound’s second-half scores, each on short runs.
Lawrence worried at the outset that line size might play an adverse role. Aside from senior Tyler Bill, a heavyweight state champion wrestler in the 285-pound range, most of the Royals’ linemen average about 200 pounds each. All of Newfound’s trenchmen checked in between 225 and 255.
Lawrence tried to work the flanks, with occasional success. Shawn tossed his first two varsity touchdown passes for Mascoma, adding a 14-yarder to Sean Rostron in the third quarter that required a lunging one-handed grab in the end zone from the wideout. Shawn finished the day 5-for-16 for 86 yards, the two scores and three interceptions. Mascoma also lost a fumble.
Youth (just six seniors) and injuries (two starting backs lost for the season) have made Lawrence’s job more difficult. In his opinion, however, Mascoma will need to get stronger while it tries to get better.
“Hopefully our kids will understand that this game is about being strong,” he said. “You’ve got to get stronger, or things like this happen.”
Audibles: Fullback Alex Howe returned to the Mascoma lineup after missing a week with a concussion, running for a team-best 51 yards on 12 attempts. … Aidyn Anderson rushed for a game-high 113 yards on 11 carries for the Bears. Mitchell chipped in 92 yards, also on 11 attempts, and Cameron Anderson had a game-best 13 carries for 83 yards. … Mascoma finished with 182 offensive yards. … For the record, the Royals’ Adidas Murphy played in Under Armour cleats. The junior also booted the extra point following Rostron’s TD catch. … Mascoma’s next game is Oct. 14 at Newport.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.