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Friday football: Exeter suffers first loss, Spaulding earns first win

Staff reports
·6 min read

The fifth week of the high school football season kicked off Friday with six games involving six Seacoast teams.

In Division I, Dover hosted Manchester Memorial and both Exeter and Spaulding played out-of-state games. Exeter hosted St. John's of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and Spaulding visited Edward Little of Auburn, Maine.

In Division II, St. Thomas Aquinas hosted Pembroke, and in Maine, Marshwood welcomed Massabesic in a Class B South game.

The week continues on Saturday with four games, including Winnacunnet at Bangor, Maine, and Portsmouth/Oyster River at Oxford Hills, Maine; Somersworth at Newport in Division IV, and Traip Academy hosting Mount View in a Maine 8-Maine Small game.

Here are the results from Friday's games.

St. John's 28, Exeter 7

Exeter High School's Tyler Graney looks to make the tackle during Exeter's 28-7 loss to St. John's (Mass) on Friday night at Exeter High School.
Exeter High School's Tyler Graney looks to make the tackle during Exeter's 28-7 loss to St. John's (Mass) on Friday night at Exeter High School.

EXETER - The Blue Hawks, which suffered their first loss of the season, scored the opening touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run by quarterback Jack Bove, but the Pioneers ended the game scoring 28 unanswered points.

The Blue Hawks are now 4-1 on the season, though this out-of-state matchup won't impact Exeter in the Division I playoff race.

The Blue Hawks and Pioneers were tied at 7-7 at halftime, but St. John's pulled away in the second half.

The Exeter High School football team suffered its first loss of the season, 28-7 to St. John's (Mass) on Friday night at Exeter High School.
The Exeter High School football team suffered its first loss of the season, 28-7 to St. John's (Mass) on Friday night at Exeter High School.

Coach's Comment: "Good first half," Exeter head coach Bill Ball said. "Really good team we were playing there, proud of the effort. Obviously, there's some things on the tape we'll have to correct, but I think we got a lot out of this game tonight."

Top Players: Exeter running back Evan Delorie finished with nine carries for 42 yards, and fellow running back Daniel Batstone had 13 carries for 39 yards.

Key Moments: On Exeter's lone touchdown drive, the Blue Hawks marched 55 yards on 10 plays, with big gains coming on consecutive plays - a 9-yard carry by Delorie, a10-yard run by Batstone and a 10-yard run by Delorie. All three runs picked up first downs as Delorie's 9-yard run came on a second-and-eight. Bove threw an 11-yard pass to tight end Tyler Graney to the Pioneer 1, before Bove's touchdown.

The Pioneers tied the game on a 20-yard pass from quarterback Dylan DiPietro to Cole DiPersio with 1:44 left in the first quarter.

To open the second half, Batstone made a nice tackle on the kickoff that pinned the Pioneers inside the 10-yard line at the 8, but St. John's marched 92 yards for a touchdown and took a 14-7 lead. St. John's scored once more in the third and another in the fourth.

Up Next: Exeter will play at Portsmouth/Oyster River (4-0) Friday at 7 p.m.

-Brandon Brown

Spaulding 57, Edward Little 18

Spaulding's Hunter Trueman (4), seen here against Dover earlier in the season, had four touchdowns in Friday's win at Edward Little.
Spaulding's Hunter Trueman (4), seen here against Dover earlier in the season, had four touchdowns in Friday's win at Edward Little.

AUBURN, Maine - After a rough first four weeks, the Red Raiders went on the road and exploded for a near-40 point victory.

Spaulding had a variety of touchdown scorers led by Hunter Trueman's four scores. He scored on a 71-yard run, 23-yard run and 8-yard run - all in the first half, then an 11-yard run in the third quarter.

Additionally, Zach Lynch scored on 11-yard and 10-yard runs, Hunter Libby scored on an 86-yard run and freshman Tyler Lyndsey recovered a fumble and returned it for a score.

Coach's Comment: "We finally were able to get the double-wing moving," Spaulding head coach Kevin Hebert said. "In fact the first play of the game, we forced a fumble on the kickoff which was fantastic and we went down and scored on that drive. We had four turnovers (forced)."

Chris Santana had two interceptions and Brady Collins had an interception for Spaulding.

Up Next: Spaulding (1-4) is at Manchester Central (2-3) next Saturday at 2 p.m.

-Brandon Brown

Cape Elizabeth 30, York 27

York senior Brody Gullison, seen here earlier this season against Lisbon, had three rushing touchdowns in York's 30-27 loss to Cape Elizabeth on Friday.
York senior Brody Gullison, seen here earlier this season against Lisbon, had three rushing touchdowns in York's 30-27 loss to Cape Elizabeth on Friday.

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine - It was a tight contest, but the Wildcats came up short.

Cape Elizabeth took a 30-27 lead in the fourth quarter, and York was on the verge of responding but the Wildcats turned the ball over in the red zone, giving the ball back to Cape Elizabeth. With about 4 minutes left, the Capers picked up a few first downs and ran out the clock.

For the Wildcats, Brody Gullison found the end zone three times - all rushing touchdowns, while Gavin Davis scored a rushing touchdown of his own.

Coach's Comment: "They never quit, they played all the way until the very end which is the only thing you can ask," York head coach Matt Nelson said. "I was proud of their effort, we just came up short tonight."

Up next: York (2-3) will host Fryeburg Academy (3-1) next Friday night at 6 p.m.

-Brandon Brown

St. Thomas Aquinas 55, Pembroke 12

DOVER – Senior quarterback Michael Skowron ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as St. Thomas Aquinas improved to 3-2 with this Division II win.

“Our kids fought hard from the opening drive and it was a total team effort,” St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Ed McDonough said. “Good win, proud of the effort by all.”

Skowron ran in touchdowns of 42 and 1 yards, and connected with Kenny Avery for a 39-yard strike. Skowron connected on 3 of 5 passes for 101 yards.

Trent Salyards had rushing touchdowns of 10 and 4 yards for the Saints, while Sam Grondin had a 15-yard touchdown, Timmy Avery had an 11-yard score, and Aidan Morrison ran one in from 9 yards out.

Declan Healy had two catches for 62 yards.

St. Thomas Aquinas will travel to Laconia on Friday.

-Jay Pinsonnault

Marshwood 49, Massabesic 0

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine – The Hawks had seven rushing touchdowns and cruised to this Class B South win.

Marshwood improved to 3-2 on the season, while Massabesic is 1-4.

Marshwood, which has now won three of its last four games, was coming off last week’s 42-6 loss to Class A Sanford.

“I felt we played much better this week,” Marshwood head coach Alex Rotsko said. “It’s a step in the right direction.

Ty Hussey and Ryan Essex each scored two touchdowns for the Hawks.

“They both ran the ball well, and had good games for us,” Rotkso said. “(Hussey) also did a good job throwing the ball well.”

Landon Waterman, Graham Goodwin and Dylan Grassi all had one touchdown. Goodwin and Grassi both scored their touchdowns in the second half,

“I think we have to understand what it takes to win football games,” Rotkso said. “I think Sanford is a stronger team than Massabesic, but our effort was much better this week than it was last week.”

-Jay Pinsonnault

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Week 5 football Three Seacoast teams win in five Friday games