TURNER — Leavitt football Senior Night was unofficially dedicated to Adam Smith, with good and obvious reason, but fellow upperclassmen Levi Craig and Max Green put on a show Friday night that the Hornets and their fans at Libby Field won’t soon forget.
Craig was 21-for-37 for a staggering 423 yards, and Green caught all four of his touchdown passes to lead a 48-10 trouncing of Spruce Mountain in a Campbell Conference inter-class confrontation.
Green grabbed touchdowns of 15, 30 and 13 yards in the first half, staking the Hornets to a 35-0 lead. He later answered Austin Henault’s touchdown return on the second-half kickoff with a 22-yard scoring catch.
“It felt good,” Green said. “We definitely went in with the mindset of having Smitty in the back of our heads. We wanted to play for him. We had a good game, executed well and finished them off.”
Smith was released Friday from Maine Medical Center in Portland after spending six days recovering from a shattered spleen and a broken vertebra in his back, injuries suffered separately in Leavitt’s previous game against Greely.
He led the team onto the field for senior recognition, then watched the game from the front seat of a vehicle parked behind the south end zone.
Leavitt (5-2) gave him an excited eyeful, early and often. The Hornets’ defense held the Phoenix to six consecutive three-and-outs before Spruce Mountain (3-4) produced its initial first down late in the second quarter.
Chandler Lajoie, wearing Smith’s customary No. 55, sacked Spruce quarterback Caulin Parker twice in the half. Craig and D’Andre James each had a touchdown run in the opening onslaught.
Craig connected with eight different receivers, seven of them in the first half.
“We had a rough week last week throwing, so we wanted to come out an establish it,” Craig said.
In addition to Henault’s kick return, Spruce Mountain scored its other points on a safety when Sebastian Lombardi and Dillon Webster tackled sophomore Zack Rogers in the end zone with four minutes left.
That immediately followed a goal-line stand, with Kevin Knight and Christian Callahan collaborating to deny Webster (17 carries, 62 yards) a touchdown.
Class C Spruce Mountain elected to maintain its rivalry after Leavitt’s advancement to Class B this season. The Hornets have won all four games in the series.
Spruce was without head coach Walter Polky, who was sitting out a mandatory one-game suspension after his ejection last week against Yarmouth.
“The second half I thought we came out and played a lot better than we did the first half,” interim coach David Frey said. “When you don’t have your head coach, it’s a tough spot. This is a letdown here. The first half we couldn’t move the ball. We couldn’t block. All 11 guys have to do their job and we didn’t.”
Leavitt rolled up 613 yards of total offense to 123 for Spruce Mountain (3-4).
Caleb Bowen capped the scoring with an 87-yard run for the Hornets.
“It helps a little bit that we’ve played these guys in the past,” Hathaway said. “It was familiar to the kids what they do offensively. I thought that front five (defensively) did a nice job.”
Billy Bedard caught 6 passes for 144 yards and was a menace on defense. Green also had six receptions for 105 yards.
Craig’s 8-yard touchdown run capped a 12-play, 61-yard opening drive for the Hornets.
Leavitt held Spruce Mountain to 33 yards in the first half. Lajoie’s second sack and a tackle for loss by John Rousseau stopped the only serious drive for the Phoenix inside the Leavitt 20.
“We just focused on three-and-outs,” James said.
Aidan Parmenter, a sophomore, had double-digit tackles as one of the primary replacements for Smith.
Lombardi also intercepted a pass for Spruce, which could be seeded as high as No. 4 in the Class C South playoffs depending upon the outcome of next week’s games. Leavitt travels to Biddeford with hopes of clinching No. 2 in Class B South.
“If we can play like we did against Gray and Cape, we’ll be alright,” Frey said. “We just can’t defend the pass. You practice all week, and then you’ve got kids watching the quarterback and they forget where the receiver is. That kid’s got a laser of an arm, so that one second you forget, it’s gone.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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