Saturday football: Somersworth falls in Division IV rematch; PHS wins, Winnacunnet loses
The fifth week of the high school football season concluded Saturday with four games involving six Seacoast teams.
In two out-of-state games in Maine, Portsmouth/Oyster River held off Oxford Hills, 20-14, and Bangor beat Winnacunnet.
In Division IV, Somersworth visited Newport in a rematch of last year's state championship game, and Traip Academy hosted Mount View in a Maine 8-Maine Small game.
Here are the results from Saturday's games.
Newport 13, Somersworth 12
NEWPORT – After falling into a 13-0 hold at halftime of Saturday afternoon’s game against Newport, two-time defending Division IV champion Somersworth’s second-half comeback fell short in a 13-12 loss to the Tigers at Myrne Field.
The game was a rematch of last year’s Division IV championship that Somersworth won, 14-6. The Hilltoppers dropped to 2-1 on the season, while Newport improved to 4-0.
Newport running back/quarterback Kyle Ashley led the Tigers with 121 rushing yards on 21 carries and he also threw a touchdown pass.
Somersworth managed only 48 offensive yards in the first half, as running back Teyshawn Sheppard gained 65 of his 91 yards in the second half and finished with 17 carries.
Kayden Bickford added 44 rushing yards on five carries with a score, and recorded an interception in the first quarter.
Somersworth quarterback Eric Goodrich didn’t complete one of his nine pass attempts and was sacked six times.
Coach’s comment: “I say it every time we play Newport; you’ve got to play a perfect game to compete with them and we certainly didn’t play a perfect football game,” Somersworth coach Jefremy Lambert said. “I will take nothing away from my kids. (We) fought hard and they fought hard and we just came up a little short.”
Key moments: Somersworth’s Seth Worrell returned the opening kickoff nearly 70 yards down to Newport’s 4-yard line, but an Ashley sack pushed the Hilltoppers back and their golden chance to start the game was stopped on fourth down at the 9.
Newport capitalized on a 10-yard Somersoworth punt when Ashley scored from 18 yards out to give Newport a 6-0 lead with 1:12 left in the first quarter.
After Somersworth was stopped on fourth down near midfield, Ashley took a pitch on fourth-and-5 and tossed a 49-yard half-back option to Aidan Couitt for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead with 27 seconds left in the half.
Somerworth got on the scoreboard four plays into the third quarter when Worrell returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown to bring Somersworth within 13-6.
The Hilltoppers forced a pair of punts the remainder of the quarter, and Bickford scored on a 25-yard scamper two plays into the fourth. A 2-point conversion pass from Worell off a fake extra-point attempt failed and left Somersworth trailing 13-12 with 11:31 left in regulation.
Ashley gained 47 of his rushing yards in the fourth to help kill the clock, but a pair of drives stalled near the goal. Pinned back, Somersworth couldn’t overcome the field position to mount a serious scoring threat.
Bangor 28, Winnacunnet 7
BANGOR, Maine - The Warriors, who took the three-hour bus trip north, allowed two touchdowns in each half and dropped to 0-5 after this out-of-state game at historic Cameron Stadium.
"Besides not getting the result we wanted, the day was great," Winnacunnet head coach Ryan Francoeur said. "It's a long day of travel, but the kids were up for it. Everyone seems to be excited for the four games we have left. It was great having fans travel up this far and it was a great facility. Overall, I think it was a great experience for us to have."
Winnacunnet took the second half kickoff and junior quarterback Riley McDaniel orchestrated the best Warrior drive of the season, marching 73 yards on 15 plays, The drive, which took 8 minutes, and 27 seconds off the clock culminated on McDaniel's 1-yard TD run up the middle.
"I thought we played better in the third quarter than we did in the first half," Francoeur said.
On the drive, McDaniel completed 3 of his 4 pass attempts for 29 yards. He connected with senior captain Jack Strother twice for 17 yards, and freshman Jaxon McDonald once for a 12-yard pickup on a third-and-eight. McDonald's catch gave the Warriors a first down at the Bangor 47.
Later in the drive, Mason McDonald hooked up with Logan Lochiatto for a 14-yard gain, giving the Warriors a first down at the Bangor 6. Two plays later, McDaniel scored, cutting the Bangor lead to 14-7 with 3:33 left in the third.
The momentum was shortlived as Bangor scored on its next drive. Sophomore running back Kyle Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, He also scored on a 4-yard run in the second quarter. For the game, Johnson carried 24 times for 168 yards. He also had two catches for seven yards.
"He was our No. 1 focus coming into the game," Francoeur said. "We, obviously, would've liked to have had a better day against him. He was a very good football player."
Up next: Winnacunnet returns to its Division I schedule on Friday at home against Goffstown.
-Jay Pinsonnault
Portsmouth/Oyster River 20, Oxford Hills 14
SOUTH PARIS, Maine - Portsmouth/Oyster River went across the state line and came back with a hard-fought win over the reigning Maine Class A champions.
Big plays keyed the Portsmouth offense, and the defense held firm as theClipperCats improved to 5-0 on the season.
Coach Brian Pafford said the team defense was exceptional and his team withstood a late charge from Oxford Hills after jumping out to a 20-7 first half lead.
Coach's comments: "This was an important win," Pafford said. "Last year we didn't win but we played well against (Oxford Hills) and it propelled us to a win the next week against Timberlane. We have Exeter next week, hopefully it can propel us into that game. Oxford was Class A champs last year for a reason. They can put up points in a hurry. So this is a good win."
Key moments: Portsmouth (5-0) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard Aidan Thomas touchdown run. The ClipperCats pulled ahead 14-0 in the second quarter when Brooks Connors ripped off a 61-yard touchdown run. Emmanuel Poe capped the scoring with a 52-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
Key players: Connors finished the day with 96 rushing yards and a touchdown. Thomas had a touchdown pass and a touchdown run, and led a steady offense throughout the game.
Up next: Portsmouth hosts Exeter on Friday in a battle of unbeaten Division I teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Tom Daubney Field.
-Terrill Covey
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast football Somersworth falls in Division IV rematch; PHS wins
