AUGUSTA — Saturday’s strong wind did little to slow Cony’s Ben Lucas.

The junior quarterback threw four touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Rams routed Edward Little 41-13 for their first win of the season. Lucas completed 14 of 28 passes with one interception for 241 yards and looked effective with or against the wind.

“It was a factor on some of the deep throws,” Lucas said. “There were some passes downfield that I wanted to complete.”

Three of Lucas’ touchdown passes went to senior Chandler Shostak, who finished with four receptions for 78 yards.

“When the plays break down, we just seem to have a connection,” Shostak said. “He knows where I’m going to end up at, I know where he’s going to roll out to.”

Cony’s success wasn’t limited to the air. The Rams rushed for 181 yards on 33 carries, led by senior Brandon St. Michel, who ran for 97 yards on 14 carries. The defense, led by senior linebacker Kyle Elvin, also played well.

“He’s a two-year starter for us,” Cony coach Robby Vachon said. “He does a nice job in coverage, too. Edward Little is a little similar to us in the way they throw the ball.”

Red Eddies quarterback Sean Ford completed 12 of 26 passes with two interceptions for 168 yards. The Red Eddies senior also rushed for both his team’s touchdowns. Edward Little (0-2) rushed for 161 yards, one of those runs a fake punt by Quin Leary that went for 35 yards.

The Rams (1-1) won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, electing to go with the wind. The move paid off when the Red Eddies fumbled on their opening drive and Keith Cloutier recovered for the Rams. Lucas drove 73 yards for a score, completing passes of 18 yards to Tayler Carrier and 21 to St. Michel along the way. He capped the drive by scrambling to his right and hitting Shostak in the right front corner of the end zone from 12 yards out.

“It was a great play by Chandler,” Lucas said. “There wasn’t anything open on the side we were running the play so I scrambled and Chandler did the right thing. He was right there so I put it on him.”

The Rams held on downs on the ensuing EL drive and forced a punt that traveled just 16 yards into the wind. With just 30 second left in the quarter, the Rams called timeout and moved the ball 45 yards in two plays, the first a 20-yard screen pass to St. Michel. Lucas hit Zack Lachance in the right flat on the next play and he ran into the end zone untouched as the first quarter horn sounded. Lachance kicked the second of five extra point conversion to give the Rams a 14-0 lead at the break.

Cony led 21-7 at the half and put the game away with drives of 71 and 72 yards in the third quarter, both of them into the wind. Lucas capped the first drive when he kept the ball on an option play and scored from 29 yards out. Charlie Hallak finished the second drive with a 2-yard plunge. The drive was highlighted by a 43-yard pass from Lucas to Shostak on third and 10.

“I thought it was a great effort out of our kids,” Vachon said. “We have a lot of things we can still work on to get better, that’s for sure.”

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

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