LEWISTON — FLY football kicked off its season on August 28 with opening ceremonies for Flag, Peewee Tackle, Junior, Senior, and Cheering programs.

Following the ceremonies, the American Engraving Jr. Lions won their opener against the Grimmel’s Gas-Up Jr. Giants in a close 7-6 battle. Xavier Jackson led off the game with a 68 yard touchdown keyed by a key block by Ricky Cote. The Lions offense was stalled the entire game by a tough Giants defense led by Gordon Beckwith, Lucas Nichols, Devin Corliss, Kayden Estes, and Thomas Brochu. The Giants scored their touchdown on a 15-yard run by Connor Kaplinger. Jackson intercepted a Kaplinger pass that prevented another score. Along with the interception, Jackson had a combined eight tackles. The stingy defense was also led by Robert Dostie with five tackles, seven tackles by Miles Teague, nine tackles by Cote, and 11 total tackles by Jordyn Rubin.

The second game saw the Rooper’s Sr. Lions defeat the Austin Associates’ Sr. Giants. The Lions amassed 253 yards on offense, while the tough defense held the Giants at bay. Stefan Porter rushed for 68 yards, Julian Raines rushed for 65 yards and 58 yards by Desmond Jackson. The Lions defense was led Nate Mercier, Nicholas Harnden, and Jackson (seven tackles each), six tackles by Jared Rubin, four by Jacob Mcride and an interception by Porter. For the Giants, Brock Belanger led the offensive with 43 yards rushing. Caden Begos also added some tough yards up the middle. The offensive line consisting of Devin Lavoie, Chris Dillingham, Hunter Knowlton, Tanner Sturgis, Dylan Wood, Cody Bragdon and Matt Gaudette provided the blocking up front. Leading the way on defense were Belanger with three tackles and Begos with two tackles. Marcus Caron, Isaiah Brisbane and Justin McCarthy also contributed on the defensive side.

The third game saw the Gee & Bee Jr. Redskins defeat the Sabattus Disc Golf Jr. Steelers. Shawn Jackson scored four touchdowns to lead the Redskins behind strong rushing by Tanner Cortes, John Mathon Jr. and Chandler Coombs. Defensively, Cortes had an interception and nine tackles. There were two fumble recoveries by Mathon Jr. and six tackles each by Dominick Colon, Brendan Bolduc and Hunter Steele. The Steelers were led on offense by Isaac Madore with 39 yards and Gabe Escobar with 38 yards and a touchdown. Zack Morin led the Steeler defense.

The final game of the day saw the Rooper’s Sr. Lions defeat the Fournier and Son’s Construction Sr. Steelers. The Lions were led on offense by Stefan Porter with a 66-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well as another rushing touchdown. Also strong offensively were Desmond Jackson, Jared Rubin and Nate Mercier. Defensively, highlights were two fumble recoveries by Bennie Montgomery, another by Nicholas Harnden and an interception by Jordan Palmer to keep the Steelers off the scoreboard.

Falcons stay perfect

AUBURN — The Auburn Falcons Middle School JV and varsity football teams both improved their record to 2-0 with victories over Oxford Hills.

The Falcons’ JV squad won 12-0 with another strong defensive game and two big offensive plays. The first was a 27-yard TD run around the right end by Tyler Blanchard, and the second was a 68-yard TD pass from Noah Yarnevich to Kyle Romero. The Falcons recorded their second shutout in as many games with a strong defense led by Dillion Hummes, Noah Moreshead and Brandon Marquis.

In the nightcap, the Falcons won the varsity tilt, 18-0, also recording their second shutout of the early season.

After a physical first quarter, Auburn got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter when Matt Verrill completed a pass to Austin Cox at the 2-yard line, and Cox muscled his way into the end zone to give Auburn a 6-0 edge.

That was the halftime score, and Oxford Hills got the ball to open the third quarter. Auburn’s defense came out strong to open the third quarter and forced a punt.

Auburn marched down the field with strong running from Evan Glidden, Brandon Varney and Verrill. After being stopped on three consecutive plays inside the 10, Marshall Weiss found Cox in the back of the endzone for the touchdown to make the score 12-0.

Late in the fourth quarter, Weiss hooked up again with Cox on another TD pass of 23 yards to finish the scoring.

Shammond Thomas, Corey Gillespie and CJ Jipson led the defense. Jipson had two interceptions.

The Falcons varsity squad’s next game is against Mt. Ararat on Wednesday in Topsham. The JVs are at Poland on Saturday.

Auburn Rec blanks G-NG

Auburn Recreation Department JV fourth and fifth-grade football defeated Gray-New Gloucester, 12-0. Devonte Rembert scored on a 45-yard touchdown run and a 40-yard pass from QB Caleb Yarnevich. Storm Jipson and Yarnevich were also leading rushers to go with Rembert’s huge day. The defensive line of Giles Paradie, Will Fletcher, Kobe Thomas, Ben Hallett and Bobby Tremaine anchored the defense to secure the shutout with contributions from LB Dakota Bosquete and DB Dan Milks.

Demons split with MV

Lewiston Middle School football teams split their season-opening games with Mountain Valley.

The junior varsity fell to Mountain Valley, 28-6. Andre Coachman scored the only touchdown for Lewiston on a 60-yard run.

Varsity rolled to a 28-0 victory. In the first quarter, Alex Demeres threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to William Adams. Demeres found Adams again in the second quarter, this time from 25 yards. Isaac Escobar rushed for the conversion.

Noah White scored on a 20-yard run. Adams returned the second-half kickoff 70 yards for a score.

Keghan Stacey caught a 20-yard pass. The Demons defense played a terrific game, including all the substitutes, to preserve the shutout.