BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick Dragons went into Friday night’s Pine Tree Conference opener knowing they were ready for the season to start. The Edward Little Red Eddies weren’t sure.

Brunswick quickly made up the Eddies’ mind for them.

Using big plays in the running and passing game, Brunswick overwhelmed injury-depleted EL early and cruised to a 32-12 victory.

Senior QB Stephan Jenson tossed two first-half touchdowns and senior fullback John Williams scored one touchdown rushing and receiving as the Dragons outgained the Eddies, 228-35 yards in the first half. 

“We feel our defense is pretty good and we wanted to come out and play physical,” Brunswick coach Dan Cooper said. “EL was up to the challenge, but we made some big plays there.”

The first big play came on Brunswick’s second possession, a 44-yard Jenson TD pass into one-on-one coverage to Rashon Edgerton. Edgerton made a nice leaping grab of another Jenson pass for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.

“We feel that we threaten the whole field and if teams are going to single-up on our receiver, we’re going to take advantage of that,” Cooper said.

Williams (11 rushes, 102 yards) made it 14-0 on the Dragons’ next series with a 66-yard TD jaunt with 6.2 seconds to go in the first quarter.

Gutted by graduation after reaching the PTC final last year, EL knew it would take some time to get so many new starters’ feet wet. But preseason injuries sidelined five starters, including QB Teven Colon (shoulder), tailback Cory Spruill (ankle) and three-year starting lineman Jake Goullette (Achilles), and one key reserve.

The Eddies could get little going offensively in the first half despite enjoying good field position a couple of times.

Edgerton and Tom Wiley picked off junior QB Josh Delong  twice in the first half. Senior tailback Brandon Vye (12 carries, 46 yards) ran EL into Brunswick territory once and the Eddies later recovered a fumbled snap at the Brunswick 34, but they never threatened in the first half. 

“We’re being physical. We’re hanging. But we know we can’t make any mistakes,” said Edward Little coach Darren Hartley. “One of our goals was to start our possessions from our 30 or 40 out , and we did that. But when we need a play, we’ve just got so many kids that are so green …”

A 36-yard run by Jeremy Diaz (12 carries, 73 yards) set up a one-yard sneak by Jenson to make it 20-0. The Dragons added to the cushion with a 13-yard TD reception by Williams with 9.6 seconds remaining for a comfy 26-0 cushion.

The Eddies generated a little spark in the second half with some hard running by Darnell Hairston (13 carries, 59 yards). The Dragons finally began to key on Hairston and Delong faked a pitch to him before sprinting to his right for a 12-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Backup QB Ken Treadwell added the other EL score on a sneak.

Now it’s back to the drawing board for the Red Eddies. The good news is they could get healthier. The bad news is they’re facing perennial powerhouse Lawrence next.

“It’s been a very difficult couple of weeks. We’re trying to stay positive,” Hartley said. “I’ve been negative and trying to pick myself up but I’ve just been very disappointed. I just thought we’d be better than we are right now.”