Bangor Daily News
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Houlton/Hodgdon/Southern Aroostook/Greater Houlton Christian Academy senior quarterback Isaiah Ervin had another exceptional game as his Shires had a nice bounceback win, as did Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, during last weekend’s high school football action.
Hampden Academy pulled off an upset win and defending three-time Class D North champ Foxcroft survived a stern test from Class C North Nokomis of Newport.
Ervin scored seven touchdowns, including runs of 80 and 47 yards in the third quarter to erase a 36-32 deficit. He capped his evening with a 61-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter as the Shires beat the defending 8-Man Small state champions.
The 5-1 Shires were coming off a 66-16 loss to Stearns/Schenck.
Ervin has now carried the ball 96 times for 1,299 yards and 23 touchdowns this season.
“He is a competitor. He was motivated. He wanted the ball,” said Orono coach Bob Sinclair. “He can reach full speed in his second or third step, and he sees the field well. He tore us to shreds.”
Jack Brewer completed 30 of 37 passes for 358 yards for 3-3 Orono. Will Francis had 15 catches for 186 yards and two TDs and Sal Wise had 12 receptions for 159 yards and two TDs.
Francis also had three sacks from his defensive end slot.
Brewer has completed 108 of 144 passes for 1,899 yards and 23 TDs on the campaign and Francis has 52 receptions for 1,159 yards and 14 TDs.
The Class C North Panthers rebounded from their 28-14 loss to neighbor and rival Oceanside of Rockland with an impressive victory over Class B North contender Cony of Augusta.
Jaydiin Ruiz had a memorable performance on both sides of the ball.
Ruiz rushed for 195 yards and two touchdowns and also had two interceptions as the stout Medomak Valley defense held an opponent to 14 points or less for the fifth time in six games.
Walker Simmons rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown, and Wyatt Simmons and Porter Gahagan also had TD runs for Medomak Valley, which has now won four of its last five games.
In addition, Gahagan added a pair of two-point conversions and Ruiz had one.
Medomak Valley improved to 4-2 while Cony fell to 3-3.
Landon Smith and Finn Holmes each ran for more than 100 yards and a touchdown, and Silas Topolski raced 33 yards for a touchdown on a Griffin Caruso pass from behind the line of scrimmage as the defending three-time Class D North champion Ponies edged Class C North Nokomis, which is now 2-4.
Smith carried the ball 12 times for 119 yards, including an 18-yard TD run, and Holmes added 110 yards on 14 carries and had a 12-yard TD run. Aiden Harvey gained 51 yards on eight trips.
Caruso completed six of eight passes for 65 yards.
Linebacker Thomas Day preserved the win with a late interception.
Both teams turned the ball over four times.
Seth Bowden had 16 carries for 75 yards for Nokomis. He scored on a 4-yard run and threw a 25-yard TD pass to Jeff Carr. Stephone Ross racked up 67 yards on 16 carries and ran for a two-point conversion. Gabe Leighton had nine carries for 41 yards.
Running back Aiden Kochendoerfer rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a TD pass, and quarterback Gavin Monyok completed eight of 14 passes for 65 yards and two TDs as Hampden Academy upset Oceanside of Rockland.
Andrew Cote caught three passes for 51 yards and Andy Henaghen hauled in two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.
The Mariners were without leading rusher Zeb Foster (broken hand), who has run for 1,086 yards and 16 touchdowns including 577 yards in his last two games. And second-leading rusher Robert Blair turned his ankle early in the contest and didn’t return.
Matthew Bodman filled in admirably, rushing for 187 yards on 27 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Hampden is now 3-3 after snapping its three-game losing streak while Oceanside had its three-game winning streak ended and is now 4-2.
