WINTHROP – The Dirigo Cougars thought they could shut down Winthrop’s running game.

They were wrong.

The Ramblers churned out 198 yards on the ground, including 114 by Joe Morey, to defeat the Cougars 30-6 Saturday in a Campbell Conference football game at Maxwell Field.

The key point in the game came late in the third quarter. Dirigo (3-4) had punted the ball and pinned the Ramblers (6-1) on their own 12. The Winthrop offense had struggled to move the ball in the second half up until that point, picking up just two first downs and 28 yards on the ground.

“We didn’t think they could run the ball on us,” said Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert. “We didn’t think they could go the length of the field.”

Morey began the drive by ripping up the middle for seven yards. Fullback Skyler Whaley (10 carries for 44 yards) followed with another 7-yard burst up the gut. Seven more yards by Morey and an 8-yard gain by Whaley had the Cougars on their heels.

“It was great execution,” said Morey of the drive. “We just needed to stick with our blocks. We sustained (them) and it came together.”

On the sixth play of the drive, Morey took the handoff over the left side. The junior tailback broke to the outside and raced 59 yards to put the Ramblers up 23-6.

Game over.

“That took the wind out of us,” said Gilbert. “That was a big play.”

“We told (the kids) at halftime that our game plan was to throw the ball,” said Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton. “But with us up two scores, we wanted to run the ball. When we run our dive well, we’ll run it until they can stop it. That was huge momentum.”

Later in the fourth quarter, the Ramblers put an exclamation point on their performance by stringing together a 59-yard scoring drive which was culminated in quarterback Jordan Conant’s second short touchdown run.

Winthrop had scored on back-to-back plays from scrimmage in the second quarter. A 31-yard pass down the right side from Conant to Andrew Smithgall put the Ramblers in business at the Cougar 4. Two plays later, Conant snuck over from a yard out.

Following the subsequent kickoff, Cougar quarterback Nic Crutchfield had his pass deflected into the hands of Winthrop’s Zach Farrington. The defensive back had 44 yards of clear sailing to put the Ramblers up 16-0.

Dirigo answered late in the first half. Crutchfield looked deep down the right side to Alex Miele (three catches for 75 yards). The sophomore receiver out leaped Farrington for the ball and hauled it in for a 40-yard gain to the Winthrop 19. Seven plays later, halfback Derek Daley swept around the right end and outraced the defense to the pylon for a 4-yard score.

The Cougars struggled on the ground with only 69 yards on 34 carries. When Crutchfield went back to pass, he had varied success. The sophomore completed eight passes for 78 yards, but he was sacked four times by the Ramblers. Josh Confer tracked Crutchfield down twice from his defensive end position.

“They did a great job today,” said Stoneton of his defensive unit. “They’ve been focused.”