WINTHROP — With backfield mate Kyle Flaherty sidelined for the second straight game due to a hamstring injury, Alex Mace faced another week of being the center of a defense’s attention.
Winthrop/Monmouth keyed on the Oak Hill running back but couldn’t stop him Friday night. Mace piled up 215 yards and four touchdowns rushing in three quarters as the Raiders ran away with a 48-8 win at Maxwell Field.
Mace scored from 44 yards on his first carry and 87 yards on his last, his 15th rush of the game. In between, he added scoring runs of 2 and 5 yards.
“There’s a little more pressure (with Flaherty out). I feel like they’re targeting on me, I guess,” Mace said. “But that gives us room for other players. Like Jonah (Martin) last week (in a 21-0 win over Maranacook). It just opens up everything else.”
Dalton Therrien added a 37-yard touchdown pass to Matt Martin. Colby Spencer had a 33-yard rushing touchdown and Kyle Tervo returned an interception 24 yards for a score.
Tervo’s interception was one of four by the Raiders (3-1) in the second half. Mace, Levi Buteau and Brian Thorpe also collected picks.
“I think the kids felt a little more comfortable defensively and they settled into the game,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said.
Dakota Carter scored the lone Winthrop/Monmouth touchdown on a 52-yard run in the third quarter. Alec Brown rushed for 56 yards on 11 carries for the Ramblers (0-4).
Oak Hill’s defense bent but didn’t break in the first half. Winthrop/Monmouth drove into Raider territory three times in the first half only to stall at the 24, 23 and, with the clock running out, 35 yard line.
“We moved the ball. We’ve got to finish,” Winthrop/Monmouth coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “That’s been the story of the season, making young or inexperienced mistakes — penalties, interceptions, turnovers, things that good teams don’t do.”
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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