BIDDEFORD – The lights on the scoreboard reflected off of the stone-faced expressions of the players on the West sideline.

Players and coaches tried to make sense of the yellow lights, but grasping it seemed harder than stopping the East offense.

On the other sideline, jubilation. A raucous East team was celebrating its 55-8 victory — its first win since 1999 and second ever, and by the largest margin in Lobster Bowl history.

“I just can’t explain it,” said West coach Mike Bishop. “They outworked us and they dominated the line tonight.”

Behind 122 yards and two rushing touchdowns from Jeff Parenteau of Belfast, two rushing touchdowns by Mt. Ararat’s Charlie Goodwin and a touchdown run and a pass from East MVP Ryan Lockard of Waterville, the East turned the tables on Friday night and downed the West in front of several thousand fans at Waterhouse Field.

“Our guys absolutely dominated up front tonight,” said East coach Tom Bertrand. “The coaches designed a great plan of attack and the kids executed it well.”

A smaller team, the East relied heavily on speed and extra preparation to dominate the game.

“They were definitely bigger than we were,” sad Lewiston’s Kirk Bolduc. “Every time we’d go out and see the papers, the talk was of the big mismatch. People kept talking about our disadvantages. The coaches put together a quick defense and he put us all back there.”

“We knew we needed athletes on defense first,” said Bertrand. “We got some good fast guys in the secondary.”

Eight times during the game, West quarterbacks Keith Derrig of Deering and David Chase of Oak Hill were forced to either throw the ball away, get sacked or try to run after a passing attempt thanks to the swift corners and safeties.

“The biggest thing for them is that thanks to their defense they had good field position all game,” said Bishop. “When you give that up, it’s hard to win a game.”

The East came out seemingly with a vengeance in the first quarter. After allowing the West 36 yards on the first two plays from scrimmage, the defense tightened. In all, the West gained just 122 yards in the first half, and just 39 in the second for a game total of 161.

Scoring came easier to the East. After going three and out on its first possession, the East took advantage of good field position on Lockard’s arm. Starting at the West 39-yard line, Parenteau took the ball five yards up the middle and Aaron Vafiades of Dexter added eight more on another rumble through the tackles. Lockard then connected on a 26-yard catch and run to Danny Stearn of Maranacook for a touchdown, giving the East an early lead.

The West couldn’t manage more than four plays per series much of the first half, and the East continued to build its lead. With 10:45 to play in the half, Nkolo Nyada scampered 31 yards around the left tackle and scored the second touchdown of the game. He added his second extra point of the game to make it 14-0.

Five minutes later the East scored an improbable third touchdown on a 10-yard run by Parenteau. The snap on the extra point sailed over the holder’s head to leave the score at 20-0.

The West garnered a measure of revenge late in the half. After an interception and run back by Bryan Laverriere of Biddeford, the West took just one play to put its first points on the board. With nine seconds showing on the clock, Keith Derrig of Deering lofted a fade to Chad Garwood of Winthrop in the corner of the end zone. A trick play, two-point conversion lifted the West to within 12 points at halftime, 20-8.

The second half came just as easily for the East, while the West again managed no offense against the speedy defense.

Parenteau scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 65-yard run, to build the lead to 28-8, and Lockard added a rollout keeper with seven minutes to play in the third to cap an eight-play drive.

Two touchdowns 17 seconds apart early in the fourth quarter slammed the point across that the East was well on its way to victory. The final points came on nine-play drive after a Josh Sands interception. The win was the most lopsided win in history and the teams combined for the highest point total ever.

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