PITTSFIELD — Right from the pregame fireworks, it was the perfect Homecoming night for Maine Central Institute.
Running their fast-paced offense, the Huskies put on an offensive show, scoring 35 points in the second quarter alone on the way to a 67-18 win over Mt. View.
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A year after a winless season, MCI remains undefeated and is now 4-0. Mt. View falls to 2-2.
“We got excited, and we made big plays,” MCI sophomore quarterback Greg Vigue, who threw for 130 yards and three touchdowns, said.
Ahead 13-0 after a quarter thanks to a 7-yard run by Jonathan Santiago and a 30-yard pass from Vigue to Austin Tolman, the Huskies’ second-quarter offensive explosion started with a 27-yard Santiago touchdown run with 10:11 left in the first half.
After Mt. View got on the board with a 51-yard touchdown catch by Will Rogers from Kenny McGray, MCI answered with the second Vigue to Tolman TD hookup, this time for 34 yards.
“We talked all week about momentum shifts and overcoming rallies and creating our own opportunities and energy and we really did it. We really picked it up in that second quarter,” MCI coach Tom Bertrand said.
A 23-yard touchdown run by Santiago, followed by a 4-yard run by Tanner Littlefield, pushed MCI’s lead to 42-6 with 2:36 left in the half. Jack Axsom scored on a 1-yard run for the Mustangs with 23.2 seconds to play, but Santiago returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown and a 48-12 halftime lead.
“They didn’t do anything that surprised us. We need to get a lot better defensively. That’s been our bugaboo this year,” Mt. View coach Haggie Pratt said.
The Huskies needed just 46 seconds in the third quarter to increase their lead. Littlefield capped a three-play, 67-yard drive with a 31-yard touchdown run and a 55-12 cushion.
“It is exciting, but we really just have to work together. The line gets a good push, and it makes things happen. It opens up space for our backs to run. It opens up passing lanes, and it just helps us all accomplish something,” said Vigue, who added a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Hallee in the third quarter.
Santiago had just one carry in the second half, and finished with 143 yards on 14 carries to go with his four touchdowns.
Defensively, the Huskies did a nice job containing a Mt. View offense that came in averaging 38 points per game. Eric Hathway had a pair of sacks, and Steven Davis, who entered the game as the Little Ten Conference’s leading rusher, was held to 41 yards on 10 carries before leaving the game in the second quarter with an injury.
“(Davis) broke a couple and got to the outside. We knew he was going to, and we had to bounce back when he did,” Bertrand said.
Pratt also pulled McGray from the game in the second quarter, after the quarterback received a personal foul penalty on special teams.
Tolman had three catches for 80 yards.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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