By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

TOPSHAM – The Mt. Blue coaching staff gave its team a stern lecture at halftime, and it was a well-earned one.

The Cougars were fortunate to be up 14-0 at the break because they weren’t matching winless Mt. Ararat’s intensity and sense of urgency.

Fortunately, junior triple threat Hal Robbins gave the coaches the response they were looking for, returning the opening second-half kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown to give the Cougars the cushion they needed to survive a fourth-quarter surge against their second-team defense and pull out a 26-14 win.

“They weren’t very happy with us today, but they shouldn’t be,” said Robbins. “We didn’t prepare as hard as we usually do. They were drilling it into our heads (that) they were going to come out hard. I guess we just didn’t believe them.”

Robbins added touchdowns running and receiving, and Mike Toothaker rushed for 133 yards on 12 carries to help the Cougars improve to 4-0, though it’s not a stretch to call their latest win a bit of a wake-up call.

“This group doesn’t need excuses,” said coach Gary Parlin. “The coaches didn’t prepare as well as we should have and (Mt. Ararat coach) Erik (Sargent) really had his kids ready to play coming off the bye week.”

The Eagles (0-3) actually outgained the Cougars, 247-226, and came out moving the ball well from their opening drive. Junior tailback Brad Sturgeon (25 carries, 156 yards) enjoyed some big holes to run through and elusive sophomore quarterback Josh DiBattista (12-of-27, 131 yards) wiggled and waggled the Mt. Blue defense into some early frustration.

The Eagles marched into Cougar territory on their first drive, but Mt. Blue caught a break when a holding penalty and then a high snap out of the shotgun formation pushed the Eagles back to their own five-yard line. Faced with fourth-and-a-mile, DiBattista had to punt, and 6-foot-4 tackle Eric Gilbert got a piece of the kick to deflect it for only a 12-yard difference in field position.

Starting at the MA-28 on their first series, the Cougars scored three plays later on Jeff Davis’ 1-yard dive.

The Cougars were able to take advantage of two more Eagle mistakes for their next score. An intentional grounding and a shanked 20-yard punt set them up at the MA-25. Robbins ran it in from 11 yards out three plays later to make it 14-0.

Mt. Ararat had a chance to pull within a touchdown late in the half, driving down to the MB-4 with 26 seconds left. But senior lineman Jared Richards knocked down a pass on third down, and DiBattista’s quick-out pass attempt to Aaron Tardiff was a little too quick, leaving the Eagles empty-handed.

Robbins made the missed opportunity even more painful for the Eagles by fielding the second half kickoff on the fly at his 19 and running straight up the middle through a huge hole for what proved to be the game-winning TD.

“When your offensive line is the front five guys on the kick return and they’re just clearing a huge hole that a Mack truck can fit through, I’m pretty sure anybody could run through that. My eyes got about as big as tennis balls and I just ran through it,” Robbins said.

Robbins and QB Mason Barker hooked up on a seven-yard TD pass on fourth-and-4 to make it 26-0 with 1:53 left in the third quarter. Perhaps more importantly, the defense buckled down on DiBattista and Sturgeon, holding the duo to a combined two yards on seven third-quarter carries.

The Cougars’ second offense fumbled twice in the fourth quarter, opening the door for the Eagles to make it somewhat interesting against the second defense. Sturgeon had a six-yard TD run, and DiBattista connected with Curtis Cochrane on a four-yard scoring pass with 4:11 left.