JAY – Football purist may not agree, but Jay High School head football coach Mark Bonnevie called the best play in football.
With his team leading and only 53 seconds left in the game, Bonnevie looked at starting QB Mike Nemi and said “take a knee.” Nemi did as his coach instructed and the Tigers started the 2005 football campaign off with an impressive 19-6 victory over Bucksport Friday night at Taglienti Field.
The teams did not start off like the same ones that played for the Class C state championship last November. Punts and fumbles were the dominant features of the first quarter as both teams shook off first-game nerves.
After the Tigers recovered a Bucksport fumble, they finally broke into the scoring column. Hard-running fullback Trevor McCourt raced in from 15 yards out to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead with 5:28 remaining in the first half.
“We played good defense in the first half”, said Bucksport coach Joel Sankey. “We had opportunities that we couldn’t capitalize on.”
The turning point of the game came early in the third quarter. With Jay still holding on to a 6-0 lead, Bucksport started it’s best drive of the night. Beginning on their own 42-yard line, tailback Joe Robicheau took a pitch, sprinted around end to the right sideline, and broke into the clear before being dragged down from behind at the one-yard line.
But the Golden Bucks were called for holding on the play. Running back Devon Eaton fumbled on the next play to give the Tigers excellent field position. Seven plays and 38 yards later, Zane Armandi bulled in from the Bucksport 8 to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead.
“Our defense kept us in the game,” said Bonnevie.
The Tigers added one more score when Ryan Bourassa scored from the 5-yard line.
Bucksport finally got on the board late in the game when Clay Ferro caught a tipped ball in the end zone for the Bucks only score of the game.
“We’re still looking for someone to run the ball for us,” said coach Sankey. “This is a very tough way to start the season, but we offer no excuses, Jay is a very good football team.”
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