WALES — Charlton Heston gained his greatest cinematic notoriety for his portrayal of the Biblical hero Moses.

After watching Tyler Frost part the sea to set him free for a 79-yard return and a touchdown on the opening kickoff Saturday at Oak Hill, Joe Casey might recommend his 5-foot-9, 235-pound Dirigo teammate for the remake.

“I saw this massive hole and ran as fast as I could,” Casey said. “Tyler Frost just laid this kid out, and from there it was wide open.”

Casey’s special-teams salvo allowed Dirigo to dictate the day with ball-control offense and ball-hawking defense in a 14-6 statement win over the defending Class D champions.

“Usually what happens is we end up losing the first game we play them (each year). We were definitely more focused and determined than we’ve ever been to come down here and snatch one,” Frost said. “Their winning states, that’s a big target. A lot of press goes to them, and we wanted to make a statement and show that Dirigo is here to play.”

Speaking of movies, most paying attention to Dixfield-area sports are familiar with this plot: Dirigo looking downright nasty in the rare role of underdog.

Riley Robinson added a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and the Cougars (2-0) forced four turnovers.

Gavin Arsenault recovered a fumble at the Dirigo 3-yard line in the second quarter, then intercepted Dalton Therrien with 1:58 remaining to seal the victory.

Casey scooped up a muffed punt, leading to the Robinson score. Kaine Hutchins picked off a pass to stifle Oak Hill’s opening series in the third quarter.

“Our secondary is really good, and we had good pressure on the QB, so he didn’t have much time to really get the ball off,” Arsenault said. “And when he did, we just swarmed to it.”

Frost controlled the tempo from his fullback slot with 24 carries for 103 yards, and his presence at middle linebacker made north-south gains almost impossible for Oak Hill (1-1).

The Raiders took a serious hit when star senior back Kyle Flaherty left the game with a leg injury after ripping off consecutive gains of 13 and 24 yards late in the first quarter.

“It always hurts when you have one of the better running backs in the conference not play, but Dirigo played very well,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette. “They’re a very good football team.”

Although Oak Hill routed Telstar in its season opener, 47-14, the Rebels’ two kick return touchdowns were a harbinger of the Cougars’ chance to gain an early advantage.

“That’s a good start. We just put that in this week,” Dirigo coach Jim Hersom said. “We’ve been running sideline return, but we got some good blocking, I think. We had the right guy with the ball, and we were able to get up through there.”

Casey didn’t veer more than a step or two from his swath through the middle, and no would-be tackler got within five yards.

Three of the six plays on Oak Hill’s ensuing offensive series were thrown for a loss, with Robinson and Hutchins leading the way.

“It got us thinking we had these guys, you know? We could out-power them, and we just kept going,” Casey said of the quick lead. “That gave us the mindset that we had to play hard.”

Samson Lacroix and Matt Strout combined to sack Robinson early in the second quarter, forcing a Frost punt.

Oak Hill’s deep man tried to cradle the ball on the run and lost the handle at Casey’s feet.

Two plays later, Robinson hit Arsenault on a slant-and-go for 35 yards. Frost extended the drive by reaching the stick on third-and-14. After the Raiders corralled Casey, then Frost twice to force fourth down, Robinson scored on an option keeper.

“They were very physical. They played very well. They deserved to win,” Doucette said. “I think they started off strong and played well.”

The Raiders briefly switched to a hurry-up, double-wing offense and nearly reaped the rewards. Flaherty’s understudy, Steven Gilbert, unleashed a 26-yard jaunt, and Therrien found Alex Mace on fourth-and-10 to put Oak Hill in business at the 2.

Dirigo anticipated Therrien’s attempted sneak on the next play. Casey and Bryce Whittemore jarred the ball loose, and Arsenault emerged with it from the pile.

“I just saw a hard hit, and the ball popped out,” Arsenault said. “We got ahead early, and it just felt good after that. We kept up the tempo.”

Adam Merrill gave Oak Hill life by intercepting Robinson in the end zone after a holding penalty created a tough down-and-distance situation for the Cougars.

Dirigo’s one bad tackling sequence of the day, combined with Mace’s elusiveness and speed, led to a 77-yard catch-and-run for a TD with 23 seconds remaining in the third.

“They’re so well-coached, you just do what you can in every phase,” Hersom said. “The kids were resilient. We overcame a little bit in the second half. We’ve got a lot of heart here.”

Oak Hill had its best chance for the potential tying score when Mace (171 combined yards) erupted again for 37 to the Dirigo 35 with seven minutes left.

Gilbert gobbled up 14 on the next play, but Dirigo then threw him for a four-yard loss before forcing three consecutive incomplete passes. Hutchins and Arsenault knocked down the last two.

“We knew that was make-or-break,” Frost said. “If we didn’t stop them there, they were going to roll over us with that momentum.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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