Ponies come home for a big victory over Hermon
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — With three of the season’s first four games on the road, Homecoming truly lived up to the title for Foxcroft Academy during an Oct. 3 contest vs. Hermon High School. The Ponies took advantage of the home field by rushing for 10 touchdowns and having three players top 100 yards on the ground as part of a 66-13 victory to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
LARGE-SIZED HELMET — Foxcroft Academy came out onto the field from under a National Guard inflatable helmet prior to kickoff against Hermon High School on the evening of Oct. 3. The Ponies ended up with 10 rushing touchdowns in the 2014 Homecoming contest, defeating Hermon 66-13 to improve to 4-1 on the season.
On the team’s second offensive play from scrimmage, junior Hunter Smith took the shotgun snap and he tucked the football to run. Smith found a hole in the left side of the line and he proceeded to run down the sideline 52 yards for the score. A PAT by junior Nate Church made the game 7-0 as the Ponies found the endzone a mere 2:15 in.
An interception and return by senior Isaiah Kennell set Foxcroft up on its own 47-yard line. The Ponies then used four plays to move to the Hermon-20, where Smith faked a handoff to senior Peter Boyer. With the Hawk defense fooled, Smith carried the football 20 yards up the middle for his second touchdown in about six and a half minutes of play.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
HAVING HIS PICK — Senior Isaiah Kennell turns up the field after making an interception in the first quarter. The turnover helped lead to Foxcroft’s second touchdown of the game, a 20-yard run by junior quarterback Hunter Smith.
After a three-and-out, a single snap would be all that was needed for the third Foxcroft touchdown of the first quarter. Boyer scored on a 28-yard run as he outran and outmuscled several would-be-tacklers to cross the goal line for the 20-0 advantage.
Hermon (the team fell to 1-4 on the season) did get on the scoreboard in the second quarter, but once again Smith and Boyer combined for three touchdowns in a 12-minute interval. Smith’s third touchdown came on a 5-yard run. He would end up scoring on three of his five carries, which combined were good for 114 yards.
Boyer had touchdown runs of 28 and 10 yards in the second quarter, and he added another such play from two yards away in the third quarter. He ended up leading the Ponies with 14 carries for 158 yards and a game-high four touchdowns, the last of which helped make the game 47-6 in favor of Foxcroft.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
A LONG NIGHT — Sophomore Billy Brock picked up 143 yards on just three carries against Hermon on Friday night. Two of the three runs resulted in touchdowns, of 46 and 74 yards in the third quarter.
Sophomore Billy Brock also joined the 100-yard club, picking up 143 on only three carries. The first of Brock’s two touchdown runs was set up by Boyer after he picked off Hermon senior Kyle Barnes at about the Pony-25 and returned the ball to the Hawk-46.
On second-and-10 Brock found a hole in the middle of the line — the Pony starters were from left to right tackle seniors Kaleb Faloon, Clay Carroll, Brandon Dyer, junior James Smith and senior Sean Cody — and he ran all the way for the touchdown.
On the ensuing drive for Hermon the ball came loose inside Foxcroft territory and Brock made the recovery at the Pony-26. He then got the ensuing handoff and had the same result as the previous play on offense, only 28 yards longer, as Brock took the football 74 yards for the score. The ninth of 10 Pony touchdowns made the score 60-6 as the team found the endzone three times in each of the first three quarters.
Sophomore David Salley joined his teammates Smith, Boyer and Brock on the touchdown list. In the final minute Salley ran up the middle and cut slightly to the right to go 41 yards for touchdown No. 10 on the evening.
Foxcroft will be at home on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., the second of three consecutive weeks at Oakes Field, against Winslow High School. The Black Raiders will come to Dover-Foxcroft with a perfect record of 5-0 for a battle between two of the top three teams in the Class C East Crabtree standings.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
NO. 20 WITH TOUCHDOWN NO. 10 — Sophomore David Salley concluded the scoring for Foxcroft as his 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the 10th of the night for the Ponies and finished the scoring in a 66-13 victory.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
AT HOME IN THE ENDZONE — Running around a block by junior guard James Smith is senior Peter Boyer. Boyer finished with a game-high four touchdowns as he ran 14 times for 158 yards, one of three Ponies to surpass 100 yards on the ground.