WINTHROP — The Traip Academy football team dressed just 19 players Friday night in its Western C Campbell Conference showdown with Winthrop.
The Rangers received key contributions from more than a few of them in a 35-0 win over the Ramblers at Maxwell Field.
“They are a very physical football team,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said. “They just pound it at you. They are a tough team. We’re happy we hung with them for as long as we did.”
Traip (2-0), which committed 18 penalties for 150 yards, still accomplished what it set out to do: Control the line of scrimmage and wreck the Ramblers with healthy doses of Corey Aldecoa and Devon Draker.
Aldecoa rushed for a game-high 109 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Draker rushed for 101 yards and two scores on 14 carries.
The Rangers, who gained 336 yards of total offense, had two scoring drives of at least 10 plays that took eight minutes off the game clock.
“We like to grind it out,” Aldecoa said. “We like to play physical football.”
Added Traip coach Ron Ross, whose defense hasn’t been scored on this season: “We have to play everybody. We won with our strengths. Nobody knows us up here.”
They certainly do now.
The Rangers took control of the game on the opening drive, marching 69 yards on 11 plays. Quarterback Chris Czachor capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Christian Montembeau kicked the extra point, and Traip was up 7-0.
It stayed that way until Aldecoa rushed for a 6-yard touchdown with 8 minutes, 55 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Rangers added another score, a 1-yard plunge from Draker, 29 seconds later after Winthrop had a punt blocked inside its own 10-yard line.
The 21-0 lead was more than enough for the Traip defense, which held Winthrop to 109 yards of offense.
“We knew they had a good passing game and our secondary would have to play well,” Aldecoa said. “We wanted to stop the run as well.”
The Rangers did that, containing a spread offense Winthrop went to early in the game.
Winthrop quarterback Jared Hanson completed 9 of 20 passes for 76 yards and two interceptions. He also rushed for 33 yards.
“The speed worked,” Stoneton said, “but we didn’t have enough.”
Draker capped his big night with a 27-yard touchdown run with 2:51 left in the third to seal the game. The score capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive.
“We grind it out,” Ross said. “We have to.”
Andrew Bradley rushed for 35 yards and Nate Henderson had both interceptions to lead Traip.
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.