TOPSHAM – There were a few gaffes and a flurry of penalties, but after a two-week sabbatical, the Lewiston Blue Devils and their front man, Jared Turcotte, were good to go on Friday night.
The Blue Devils shook off a thin veneer of rust, and Turcotte didn’t look like he lost a step as Lewiston sidestepped the Mt Ararat Eagles with a 35-14 victory in a Class A football game.
The Eagles’ passing game rubbed the Devils’ secondary the wrong way most of the evening, but a healthy Turcotte, who was on the mend the last two weeks, had his way with Mt. Ararat on the ground, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first half.
“I thought we played well in the first quarter, and all that got called back because of penalties,” said Lewiston coach Bill County.
The Blue Devils were caught in a blizzard of penalties, as yellow flags dotted the landscape in the first half. A total of nine violations were called on Lewiston for 62 painful yards, and it also fumbled five times, but with Turcotte back in the running, Lewiston still marched off at halftime with a 21-7 lead.
“We wanted to get the rust off and get him (Turcotte) back in the flow,” said County. “We are a better team with him in the game.”
The Eagles witnessed first hand what a power back like Turcotte can make on offense. Turcotte punched in Lewiston’s first touchdown late in the first quarter. The Devils got the ball on the three-yard line, but they didn’t stay there for long. Turcotte pushed and shoved his way on that drive before leaving Lewiston at Mt. Ararat’s two-yard line where he spilled in from there. Ethan Gagnon split the posts and Lewiston was up 7-0.
Despite penalties and several fumbles, Lewiston was well grounded, amassing 450 yards on 54 rushes. Mt. Ararat went to the air to make things happen. Eagles quarterback Joshua DiBattista completed 12 passes in 24 attempts for 142 yards.
The Eagles tied the game early in the second quarter when DiBattista found Aaron Tardiff in the end zone with six-yard pass. Brad Sturgeon topped it off with the extra point, leaving the Devils a little nervous at that juncture.
That’s when County and his Blue Devils put Turcotte back to work on their next possession. Lewiston got the ball back on its 20, and the junior took from there, rushing for 37 yards as the Devils made it only to their 39 after pair of penalties held them back. But Turcotte wouldn’t sit tight, and on the next handoff, he raced up the field for 61-yard touchdown, putting Lewiston in command for good with a 14-7 lead.
Robert Bruce (two interceptions) set up the Blue Devil’s next touchdown when he ripped off a DiBattista pass at around 30-yard line and ran it back to Mt. Ararat’s 22. Lewiston moved to the 1 where Sergio Hairston scored, giving the Devils a 21-7 lead at halftime.
Lewiston score again in the third quarter when Garett Preston ended up in the end zone from the two-yard line. The Devils finished off Mt. Ararat in the fourth quarter when Toby Poirier scored on a three-yard rush.
Mt. Ararat’s second touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when Sturgeon scored on a four-yard rush.
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