WINSLOW — Spencer Trenoweth opened the season as the starting Dirigo tailback even though he didn’t have much experience carrying the football.

“We had some junior varsity guys who were decent but we needed something more back there,” Dirigo coach Dave Crutchfield said. “We moved him back there to give us a boost.”

Trenoweth provided one Saturday, rushing for a game-high 172 yards and a touchdown in a 32-21 win over Winslow in a Campbell Conference Class C game at Poulin Field. Trenoweth also caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown to help the Cougars (2-0) rally from a 21-18 fourth-quarter deficit.

Dirigo quarterback Brett Whittemore completed seven of nine passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns.

“Too much (Trenoweth),” said Winslow coach Mike Siviski, whose team trailed 18-7 before surging ahead 21-18 on a pair of Zach Guptill touchdown runs in the third quarter. “He’s real smooth. They capitalized on their opportunities and we didn’t. We made a lot of mental mistakes. But (Trenoweth) is just a hell of a player.”

The Black Raiders (1-1) piled up 331 yards of total offense. Joe Hopkins rushed for 136 yards on 21 carries. Dylan Hapworth rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

“We had our moments,” Hopkins said. “But as soon as we got the lead, we backed off a little. I’m just thankful it’s still early in the season.”

Guptill finished with 77 yards rushing for Winslow, which had little trouble moving the ball, but couldn’t finish drives. The Cougars also turned two Winslow turnovers into touchdowns.

The Raiders led 21-18 and had the ball near midfield late in the third quarter. However, Hopkins fumbled at his own 44-yard line and senior defensive end Zack White recovered it for Dirigo. The Cougars scored five plays later when Whittemore hit Trenoweth with a 30-yard TD pass 22 seconds into the fourth quarter. Trenoweth rushed for the two-point conversion to give the Cougars a 26-21 lead they would never relinquish.

“I had nobody around me,” he said. “It was a perfectly thrown ball and I had a lot of room to run. The third quarter, we came out a little slow, but then we got it going.”

Winslow punted on its next possession, and the Cougars put the game out of reach with a 13-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Whittemore to Nelson Pepin with 3:37 left.

Winslow led 7-0 after the first quarter thanks to a 19-yard touchdown run by Hapworth that capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive.

Whittemore rushed for a 1-yard touchdown early in the second, but the Raiders seemed poised to re-gain the lead when they answered with a long drive. Winslow reached the goal line, but Guptill fumbled in the end zone and Dirigo recovered.

Trenoweth rushed for an 80-yard touchdown on the ensuing play.

“I had a 14-foot hole to run through,” Trenoweth said. “I got the ball in my hand and never looked back. It was a good feeling. We did what we wanted to (Saturday).

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com