AUGUSTA – For the first time this season, the Mt. Blue Cougars were able to unveil their passing attack Friday night.
The Cony Rams wished they hadn’t.
Quarterback Mason Barker completed 10 of his 13 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns as the Cougars rolled to a 42-7 Pine Tree Conference win.
“This is the first time we’ve really had the opportunity to pass,” said Barker. “If we’re having a lot of success running the ball, we’re going to run it. If we’re having success passing the ball we’re going to pass.”
John Moloney intercepted Cony quarterback Gabe Hinds on each of the first two Ram possessions, the second one being a spectacular diving grab. Both turnovers set up Cougar touchdowns.
The first Mt. Blue (3-0) score was a 71-yard drive keyed by runs of 28 and 13 yards by Mike Toothaker (10 carries for a game-high 98 yards).
Toothaker’s one-yard scoring run capped the drive.
The second Cougar touchdown was a quick strike, as Barker connected on a deep pass down the left sideline to receiver Art Trask for a 35-yard touchdown. All three of Barker’s scoring passes were 30 yards or longer with
Trask grabbing two of them. Hal Robbins snared the other touchdown pass.
“They’re very helpful,” said Barker of his receivers. “I just get it there and they grab it. They make me look good.”
Justin Rowe and Jeff Davis added first-half touchdown runs as the Cougars built a 35-0 halftime lead. In the first half alone the Cougars forced two fumbles and intercepted Hinds three times. Only twice in the first 24 minutes did the Cougars begin drives on their own end of the field.
“They scored from the 20, the 30 and the 50,” said Cony coach Tom Hinds. “They used the short field. If we let that happen we can’t play with anyone.”
“It’s hard when you play a good team to come back from turnovers,” added Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin.
Cony (0-3) put together a nine-play, 64-yard scoring drive to start the second half. Hinds (8-of-21 for 99 yards) completed all five of his passing attempts during the march. His 14-yard pass to Jake Choate at the Cougar 1
set up Anthony Gayne’s short touchdown run.
Mt. Blue struck back quickly.
Robbins’ 31-yard kick-off return and a Toothaker’s 18-yard run had the Cougars back in business. Robbins then took Barker’s short flip pass and broke two tackles on his way to a 32-yard catch and run touchdown to
complete the scoring.
After yielding 347 yards to Lewiston running back Jared Turcotte last week, the Cougars held the Rams’ to just 47 yards on the ground and 146 total yards.
“Last week we had a bunch of athletes running around,” said Parlin. “This week, seventy-five percent of our practice was on defense.”
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