HIRAM — Telstar came out firing to start the game and the defense shut out Sacopee Valley 34-0 in an eight-man Small School South division football game Thursday night.

Rebels (5-0) quarterback Will Doyle threw five touchdowns passes, including two in the first quarter — an 11-yard pass to Gavinn Martin and a 28-yarder to Wyatt Lilly. Overall, Lilly caught three touchdowns.

Telstar head coach Tim O’Connor wanted the Rebels to get off to a fast start after they only scored six points in the first half against Maranacook in Week 4.

“We worked on all of those things this week, had good week of practice and we played so much better tonight,” O’Connor said. “Incredibly better. The line played a lot better, we ran the ball well and we passed a lot. I think Will was feeling it tonight, and our receivers, we worked on routes all week making sure we ran the right routes and the kids were doing a great job. (Sacopee Valley’s defenders) couldn’t cover them.”

In the second quarter Thursday, Lilly caught an 11-yard touchdown pass to put Telstar up 20-0 heading into halftime.

The Rebels’ defense was strong throughout the game, creating turnovers and negative-yardage plays for the Hawks (1-4).

“The defense was staunch,” O’Connor said. “We had numerous sacks and had a fumble recovery from Cruise Kimball and an interception by Brayden Stevens.”

In the third quarter, Doyle threw two more touchdowns. One was a 47-yarder to Cameron Palmer and the other was a 25-yard pass to Lilly.

TWO GAMES NIXED
Friday’s game between Lisbon at Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale and Saturday’s Poland at Freeport games were called off Thursday afternoon.

Winthrop Athletic Director Joel Stoneton announced the cancellation of the Ramblers’ game on social media Thursday. In his posts, Stoneton said he found out Thursday morning that there are COVID-19 issues on Lisbon’s team. He added that he was searching for a new opponent for Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale to play this week.

This is the second time this season that Lisbon has had a game canceled due to COVID. The Greyhounds’ scheduled Week 2 matchup against Madison/Carrabec/Valley was canceled because of COVID within the Bulldogs’ program.

Later Thursday, the Knights game against the Falcons was canceled, according to Poland Athletic Director Don King. It was later revealed that due to COVID and injuries, Freeport does not have enough players.

This will be the third week this season that Poland has been affected by COVID. It’s Week 2 matchup against Bucksport was canceled, then its Week 3 game against Madison/Carrabec/Valley was also axed — though the Knights were able to scramble and schedule a game against Belfast.

King told the Sun Journal that he will try to find a creative solution to find the Knights a Week 5 game.

Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale played last week, and the Ramblers won 40-6.

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