WINTHROP — The Winthrop football staff pronounced the team ready to play following two consecutive bye weeks and Friday night, the Ramblers proved them right.
Turning in one of its more complete games of the season, top-seeded Winthrop dominated No. 4 Dirigo from start to finish in a 38-8 victory in a Class D South semifinal game.
Winthrop (8-0) will play the winner of Saturday’s game between Oak Hill and Lisbon for the regional championship next week. Dirigo finishes at 5-4.
The Ramblers squeaked out a 14-6 last-minute win over the Cougars in the regular season, but were far more prepared Friday night.
“When we played them before, they had two weeks to prepare for us and we hadn’t seen them play,” Winthrop coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “We’ve seen them play the last four weeks and we kind of know them inside out. And they’re limited just because of the numbers that they have.”
The undermanned Cougars suited just 18 players for the game and a core of 12 saw most of the action. The Ramblers limited them to 142 yards of total offense with many of those coming after the first team defense sat down.
Senior back Alec Brown scored four touchdowns while Tyler Cote kicked five extra points and a field goal and Bennett Brooks intercepted three passes.
Brooks was a standout on defense and made several tackles along with Zac Wallace.
“It all starts with the boys up front,” Brown said. “They set the tone today, both offense and defense. And defensively we put in some new plays, new formations.”
The Ramblers took advantage of turnovers for their first two scores. A bad snap on a punt gave the Ramblers possession at the Dirigo 15 and, two plays later, Brown bulled over from the 3. The 200-pound senior would score on runs of 5, 4 and 1 yard.
“That’s what I take pride in,” Brown said, “Fourth and goal, fourth and inches I want the ball in my hands. And I know the boys up front will get it for me.”
Perhaps for the first time in his career, Brooks intercepted more passes than he caught on offense (one). And he made the most of his interceptions, returning the ball 36, 39 and 48 yards.
“I had luck on a couple of those,” said Brooks, who caught two tipped passes, one in the end zone. “You have to read the quarterback, read the offensive line to see if it’s a pass or a running play.”
On his third interception Brooks was all alone in the middle when he picked of Luke Lueders pass.
“In the locker room the coaches called up a play that they were probably going to run and they ended up doing it,” Brooks said. “So I had a good jump on it from the beginning.”
Nate Scott also intercepted a pass for the Ramblers while running back Dylan Boynton scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Cooper Chaisson scored on a 24-yard run for the Cougars with 40 seconds left to play.
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