TURNER - Josh Strickland rushed for three touchdowns and Jon Letourneau ran for one and scored another on a 22-yard pass to lead top-ranked Leavitt to a 55-0 thumping of Belfast in the opening round of the Eastern Class B football playoffs Friday.
Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Leavitt Area High School's Jordan Hersom gets pulled down by a Belfast Area High School defender during the first quarter in Turner on Friday.
Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Leavitt Area High School's Jon Letourneau pulls in a pass for a first quarter touchdown against Belfast Area High School in Turner on Friday. Letourneau's score put Leavitt up 19-0.
Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Leavitt Area High School's Buck Bochtler, right, sacks Belfast Area High School quarterback Brad Reed during the second quarter in Turner on Friday. Brad Reed
Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Leavitt Area High School's Buck Bochtler, right, and Jake Ouellette celebrate after Bochtler sacked Belfast Area High School quarterback Brad Reed during the second quarter in Turner on Friday.
The unbeaten Hornets scored all 55 points in the first half, including five touchdowns in the second quarter.
Leavitt accumulated 306 yards of total offense in the first half.
Strickland got things started quickly with touchdown runs of 7 and 12 yards. Letourneau followed with his 22-yard TD catch from quarterback Eric Theiss for a 21-0 advantage after the first quarter.
The onslaught picked up steam in the second quarter. Letourneau scored from 16 yards out to increase the margin to 28-0.
After Strickland's third touchdown of the game, this one on a 9-yard run, Jason Fisher scored on a 9-yard run, Theiss sprinted in from 15 yards and Isaiah Wright completed the outburst with a 60-yard burst.
Nick Urquhart kicked five extra points and Jordan Hersom added one on a run.
Leavitt's starters sat out the entire second half. While they did not score, the Leavitt reserves kept Belfast's first team out of the end zone in the second half.
The Hornets (9-0) will entertain the fourth-ranked Hampden Broncos next weekend in the semifinals.
Bangor 28, Mt. Blue 14
BANGOR - Eighth-seed Mt. Blue put a scare in top-ranked Bangor, but the Rams finally pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 28-14 triumph in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Class A football playoffs on Friday.
The game was tied 14-14 in the fourth quarter before Bangor scored the game-winner on quarterback Joe Seccareccia's 4-yard run and finally sealed it on Lonnie Hackett's 64-yard touchdown run.
Hackett finished the game 259 yards on 33 carries and three TDs. Hackett's other scoring runs were from 2 and 61 yards.
Zach Tracy scored on a 4-yard run in the second quarter for Mt. Blue and quarterback Ryan Backus scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter. Backus' two-point conversion pass to Jake Malone tied the game at 14-14.
Backus completed 15 of 26 passes for 180 yards. Ma-lone caught eight passes for 93 yards and A.J. Larrabee caught four passes for 63 yards. Backus gained 62 yards on the ground on 17 carries.
Bangor (9-0) will face No. 4 Messalonskee in next weekend's semifinal.
Report a correction
In order to make comments, you must verify your account.
In order to comment on SunJournal.com, you must use your real name and include the town in which you live in your profile. A member of our staff will call you to verify this information. To join in, fill out your user profile completely and check the box "please verify my status." We'll get back to you within one business day to verify your account.
Login or create an account here.
Our policy prohibits comments that are:
- Defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, or otherwise hateful
- Excessively foul and/or vulgar
- Inappropriately sexual
- Baseless personal attacks or otherwise threatening
- Contain illegal material, or material that infringes on the rights of others
- Commercial postings attempting to sell a product/item
If you violate this policy, your comment will be removed and your account may be banned.