DIXFIELD – There’s still room for improvement, but that didn’t stop the Dirigo football team from capitalizing on its opportunities Saturday at Harlow Park.

Josh Daley rushed for 131 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Cougars displayed a well-balanced offensive attack for a convincing 34-7 win against Madison in a Class C Campbell Conference contest.

A key play was a 30-yard TD pass from quarterback Dakota Holmquist (10 of 15 for 131 yards, interception) to Enrico Ross with 1.6 seconds left in the first half. The Cougar receiver ran behind the Madison secondary and was wide open. Spencer Berry kicked the PAT to give Dirigo a 28-7 bulge at halftime.

“That score just before the half was big,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “Josh Daley had a great game, but I felt the rest of the team also played well. Sure, we’ve got things to work, and we are not looking past Lisbon next week. We need to take things one game at a time.”

Dirigo (1-0) opened the scoring as Daley ran in from 10 yards to complete a 67-yard, four-play drive. A highlight was a Berry 20-yard reception.

Madison’s Dustin Whipple recovered a fumble and QB Mat Brown eventually scored on an 11-yard sweep. Gabriel Fernandez kicked the extra point to give Madison a 7-6 lead.

“This was a great performance,” Daley said. “Last year, (team) would have folded in crunch time. We’re working hard and a lot of kids have stepped up.”

Dirigo turned two Keith Gaudet fumble recoveries in to 14 points in the second quarter. Daley scored on power runs of 7 and 30 yards, respectively. Tom Knight caught a belly-jump pass for a conversion.

The Cougars showed a Rumford flavor, with three former Panthers on their coaching staff calling plays. The 34 points was the most a Dirigo team had scored since beating Mexico 37-12 in 1987. The Pintos were coached by current Mountain Valley coach Jim Aylward.

“I was pleased with the offensive execution at times,” Gilbert said. “But this is a learning curve for both the players and coaches. We had a chance to score in the second quarter, but the drive ended because of a coaching mistake. I called for passes when we should have run right at them.”

The new-look Cougars stuck to the ground in the second half, but Berry (three catches for 48 yards) hauled in a 20-yard scoring strike. Josh Jean also caught three passes.

Madison gained 120 total yards and was one of 11 on third-down conversions.

“The passes were open,” Daley said “That’s a credit to the offensive line for blocking so well. I know the blocks really helped me running the ball.”