BIDDEFORD — It was one of the most dominant offensive efforts in the history of the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl, and it was just what Cony High School quarterback Ben Lucas expected.

“I think we could’ve been a little bit better,” Lucas, who played quarterback for the East along with Hampden’s Matt Martin. “We had some penalties that held us back.”

Led by Martin and Lucas, the East put up 433 yards from scrimmage and cruised to a 32-13 win at Waterhouse Field on Saturday night. The win was the second straight for the East. The West leads the series, 17-8.

Martin ran for three touchdowns and threw another to earn East Most Valuable Player honors. Thornton Academy running back Andrew Libby led the West offense with 61 yards on 18 carries to earn West MVP.

The East gained 291 yards in the air and 214 more on the ground. It set the tone on the first drive of the game. The East opened the game with an eight play, 85 yard drive in which Lucas completed three passes, including a 35-yard strike to Cony teammate Jonathan Saban and a 21-yard pass to Bucksport’s Joshua Gray.

Martin capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the East a 6-0 with 11:39 left in the first quarter.

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“We threw some screens, had some good runs, and we hit the big one to Saban,” Lucas said. “Then we brought in our big unit and Matt finished it off.”

The West tied the game with two seconds left in the first quarter on a 21 yard run by Lisbon’s Quincy Thompson. In the second quarter, the East took the lead for good. First, Martin hit Portland’s Ronald Hargrove for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Hargrove (five catches for 148 yards) caught the ball at the one, tapped his feet inbounds and made a quick jump into the end zone.

With 7:53 left in the first half, Martin scored on another 1-yard run, one play after hitting Hargrove with a 62-yard pass, giving the East a 20-6 lead at the half.

The West mounted a 16 play, 86 yard scoring drive in the third quarter. The drive ate eight and a half minutes, and ended when Bonny Eagle’s Jon Woods 6-yard touchdown run, making it 20-13. That was as close as it got. Two West drives in the fourth ended when Xavier Lewis, of Bangor, interceptions.

Lucas found Hargrove with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 13:33 left in the game to make to the East lead to 26-13. With just under four minutes left, Martin scored his third touchdown, this time on a 4-yard run, to make it 32-13.

Portland’s Justin Zukowski ran for 101 yards on 13 carries. Brunswick’s Lucas McCue gained 74 yards on eight carries for the East.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM


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