PORTLAND — Combined with its defense causing two key turnovers, Bonny Eagle ran to its sixth Class A state football title under Coach Kevin Cooper, beating Portland 34-14 in front of a large crowd at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Bonny Eagle went to a power-based formation and imposed its will on offense in the second half. Fullback Nick Thorne scored the last two touchdowns for Bonny Eagle (11-0) on runs of 27 and 2 yards and also had a strip-sack to set up the Scots’ third score. Bonny Eagle’s Alexander Smith recovered the fumble and two plays later Alex Sprague scored to put the Scots ahead 19-7.
Portland (9-2), which had won nine straight games, did respond on its next possession and cut the margin to 19-14 on a 1-yard sneak by Issiah Bachelder with 9:05 to play.
Bonny Eagle ripped off a 7-play,73-yard drive – led by the running of quarterback Cam Day — before Thorne burst through the left side, shed tacklers and went 27 yards for the score. With Cam Theberge’s two-point conversion, Bonny Eagle led 27-14.
Theberge promptly intercepted Bachelder with a strong move on deep pass, setting up Thorne’s second TD. Christian Napolitano and Kordell Menard also had interceptions for the Scots, who did not turn the ball over.
Trailing 7-6 to start the second half, Bonny Eagle shifted from its spread formation to a set that had two tight ends and a wingback. A 66-yard drive resulted, capped a well-thrown 13-yard slant pass from Day to Menard.
Three plays later Nick Thorne made the defensive play of the game when he strip-sacked Issiah Bachelder at the Portland 10.
Portland scored first when Griffin Foley went up to snare a deep sideline pass from Issiah Bachelder midway through the first quarter. Bonny Eagle scored late in the first half as it began to find some running room, with Day lunging across from the 4 with 58.4 seconds left in the second quarter.
This story will be update
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.