TURNER — Leavitt had its first touchdown called back due to a block in the back penalty Friday night.

That was about as close as anybody came to stopping the Hornets in the first half.

Leavitt scored on all seven of its first half possessions, and a couple of times it didn’t have the ball, to roll to a 75-0 drubbing of Nokomis.

Eric Theiss threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Hornets racked up 499 yards of total offense despite starting to mix in their subs in the second quarter and going with their second and third-stringers for the entire second half.

Lucas Witham, Jon Letourneau and Tyson Nichols scored two touchdowns apiece. The Leavitt defense, meanwhile, limited Nokomis to 59 total yards and one first down.

It was the third straight blowout win for the Hornets (4-0), who followed a tough seven-point win over Hampden Academy with 48 and 39-point thumpings of Camden Hills and Belfast, respectively. The second half of their schedule, starting next week against Waterville, should be quite a bit more challenging.

“It kind of stinks working hard all week and preparing for these guys and only playing a half,” said Theiss, who threw for 115 yards and rushed for 77 in his two quarters of work. “We’re hoping for a better team, a fun game (against Waterville), one where we can keep all the dogs in for the whole game.” 

The first half could be summed up on its final play. Nokomis punted and the Leavitt sideline, hoping to let the clock run out, yelled “Poison.” It was a signal for the Hornets to just let the ball roll, but the pigskin still managed to strike the back of the leg of a green-clad player and would have been a turnover if the Warriors picked it up. An alert Zach Frost scooped the ball up at the Nokomis 39 and ran it back for a touchdown. It was Leavitt’s 41st point of the second quarter and 61st of the half.

A Jake Ouellette interception on the game’s opening drive set up Leavitt’s first score, which was only delayed by the blocking in the back penalty that negated a 4-yard Letourneau run. Theiss connected with Witham from 10 yards on the next play to start the scoreboard operator’s bout with carpal tunnel.

Jordan Hersom caught Theiss’ next pass in the left flat and raced up the sidelines for a 53-yard score to make it 13-0. Nokomis (1-2) actually had Leavitt stopped on its next series and forced the Hornets to punt, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the Warriors kept the drive alive. They had another 15-yard penalty tacked onto the end of the next play and three plays later, Theiss ran it in from a yard out.

The Hornets were playing without two injured starters, tailback Josh Strikland and guard/defensive tackle Luke Wiley, but got strong fill-in performances from junior Jesse Pelletier (for Wiley) and Nichols, a freshman. Nichols ripped off scoring runs of 80 and 68 yards. Leavitt averaged more than 11 yards per carry in 33 rushes.

“We always work hard in practice and come out here with a smashmouth attitude,” said senior two-way lineman Matt Pellerin. “We’ve got some versatility because Jake Pelletier stepped up for Luke Wiley.”

Leavitt’s only concern after the game was how to keep its starters sharp and in game shape after playing less than three quarters in each of the last three games.

“We did a lot of competitive stuff in practice this week,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “We did 7-on-7 up and down the field and the JVs actually beat the varsity in the competition that we had. We’re going to do it every Tuesday and the varsity guys are fired up for a rematch.”

“We keep saying every week that it doesn’t matter who we play. It’s just about us,” Hathaway said. “We want to get better every week, and the only way we’re going to get better is to practice hard.”