FRYEBURG – Eric Goranson may not have arrived on time for his team’s football game Saturday, but once he got started, he proved timely with his passing.
The Greely senior quarterback spent much of his morning sitting in a classroom taking his SATs along with a handful of teammates and didn’t show up at the field until the opening kickoff. After sitting out the first offensive series to limber up, Goranson cut through the steady rain and the Fryeburg secondary for 182 yards passing and four touchdowns as the Rangers beat the Raiders 33-0.
Greely coach Shawn Austin knew his team would be playing without starting tailback Will Gleason, who was injured. With Goranson and six other seniors scrambling to get ready, the Rangers (5-1) began the game with the majority of their offensive unit being junior varsity players.
Goranson took over the helm for the second series and handed the ball to wingback Matt Harris from his own 19. Harris turned the corner around the right side and sprinted 81 yards to put the Rangers up 6-0.
Midway through the second quarter, Goranson hit Chris Martin coming out of the backfield on a swing pass that the running back turned into a 50-yard scoring play.
The Rangers went more to the air at the start of the third quarter after recovering a Raider fumble. Four plays later, Goranson rolled left and lofted a 30-yard scoring pass to Kevin Leticq in the left-hand corner of the end zone for a 20-0 lead.
The Greely offense got rolling again on their next possession. Goranson found Andre LaVoie over the middle for a 43-yard gain to set up another successful fade pattern to the end zone. This time Sam Green was on the receiving end of a 20-yard touchdown.
“My receivers are great,” said Goranson. “I know when I throw the ball to them they’re going to make a play on it.”
Goranson’s final touchdown pass went for 24 yards to Harris, who ran a criss-cross pattern with Leticq to get open.
“We didn’t cover them,” said Fryeburg coach Fuzzy Thurston, “and their quarterback made a couple of nice throws.”
The Raiders (0-6) managed just 16 yards on the ground. Although they moved the ball well at times through the air, quarterback Finn Chappell (8-of-19 for 81 yards and three interceptions) found himself running for his life. He was sacked seven times and hit hard numerous times just as he unloaded the ball.
“We couldn’t block their people up front,” said Thurston. “Their three guys up the middle were the best we’ve seen this year. We couldn’t lay a finger on (defensive tackle Seth Brewster).”
As for Goranson, the tired quarterback was looking for a place to lie down at the end of the game.
“After a five-hour test and a three-hour game, I’m ready to pass out,” said Goranson.
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