KITTERY — Running behind its huge offensive line, Maranacook rushed for over 200 yards and scored twice in the fourth quarter on its way to a 14-0 win over Traip Academy in a Class C football game Saturday.

Maranacook (2-0) has an offensive line composed of three players over 300 pounds. The Black Bears take advantage of their big line by using the double-wing formation, a switch from the I-formation Coach Joe Emery used his first eight years as head coach.

“I didn’t have an I tailback last year, so we had to come up with an offense. So I got a bunch of huge kids and two or three small speedy backs,” said Emery. “There’s no gaps, you’re toe-to-toe so you need to be able to push (defenders) out of the way. It works really well in inclement weather. If you can’t pass the ball – we’re going to win a lot of those games.”

Maranacook has a big quarterback, Kyle Morand (6-foot-1, 214 pounds), who is utilized as a blocker in its offensive scheme.

“You have to have a blocking QB in the double wing,” Emery said. “He goes up and gets the corner every play. Kyle is a senior, he works so hard in the offseason. He’s just such a great kid to coach.”

Morand had played quarterback until last season when he switched to fullback because that was a better fit for his skill set. When the quarterback job opened this fall, it made sense for Morand to switch back.

“I just hand the ball off and block, it works well for us,” said Morand. “It’s what I like to do and it’s fun.”

Morand and his two wing backs, Zach Lacasse and Drew Davis, combined for over 200 yards rushing.

The game was scoreless through three quarters as both teams played stout defense. However, toward the end of the third quarter, Traip (1-2) turned the ball over on downs at the Maranacook 47-yard line.

“I should have punted,” said Traip Coach Ron Ross. “(I) gave them good field position over there but I thought we could get a yard.”

The Black Bears methodically took the ball down to the 6-yard line when Lacasse scored untouched on a run up the middle just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter. Levi Emery ran in the two-point conversion to give Maranacook an 8-0 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Traip faced a third-and-long from their own 21 when quarterback Angelo Succi fired a pass down across the middle. Emery made a play on it, but the ball hit his shoulder and popped into the air. He was able to locate the ball and complete the interception, returning it to the Traip 3-yard line.

On the next play, Davis rushed up the middle for the 3-yard touchdown with 9:33 to play. The two-point conversion failed.

“We can’t hang our heads low,” said Ross. “(Maranacook is) a better team than us, so I’m proud of the way we played.”

Traip won the coin flip and on the opening drive reached the Maranacook 4-yard line before a holding penalty stalled the 14-play, 66-yard drive that lasted six minutes.

“We had a lot of penalties that killed our drives,” said Ross.

Maranacook followed that up with a long drive of their own. The Black Bears drove 67 yards on 17 plays in 8:18, but also turned the ball over on downs.

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