AUGUSTA — Despite having only eight seniors on its roster, the Cony football team had already shown it was here to stay in 2026. What the Rams hadn’t done yet, coach B.L. Lippert said, was put together a complete game.

That changed Friday night at Fuller Field against Messalonskee. The Rams controlled the Class B North clash from start to finish, defeating the Eagles 41-14 to set up a battle of unbeatens next week against Lawrence.

“It was a good night,” Lippert said. “We haven’t really had four really good quarters — we had a couple good quarters that we needed late against Fryeburg and Skowhegan — but we finally put together four pretty good ones tonight, which was nice to see.”

HOW THEY DID IT

• Davis Noyes’ versatility: After Cony (4-0) recovered a fumble at the Messalonskee 18 on the opening kickoff, Noyes took a screen pass from Drew Lindquist 16 yards for a touchdown. On the Rams’ next possession, he ran for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 13-0 midway through the first quarter.

As if receiving and rushing touchdowns weren’t enough, Noyes added a passing touchdown. With 2:49 left in the first quarter, Cony ran a trick play. The Rams motioned Noyes out of the backfield, and after he received a pitch, the sophomore hit Ian Lasselle for a 40-yard TD to make it 19-0.

“We ran it two times, I think — once last week and once this week,” Noyes said. “Coach let me know yesterday that we were going to run that play, so I was ready for it.”

• Strong line play: Offensively, Cony’s big cogs opened huge holes for Noyes and fellow sophomore Kingston Cox. On defense, the Rams stuffed Messalonskee’s ground game, which had just 38 yards on 20 carries through three quarters before the Eagles (2-2) racked up big yardage in garbage time.

“They did a phenomenal job tonight,” Cox said of Cony’s linemen. “They gave us insane gaps for everybody to make plays and just run it down their throats. It was a phenomenal night.”

WHAT IT MEANS

With Cony’s victory and Lawrence’s 49-6 triumph over Mt. Blue on Friday, the stage is set for a mammoth clash next week at Keyes Field. The winner will have the inside track for the No. 1 seed in the Class B North playoffs.

UNSUNG HERO

Cony’s Josh Lajoie. With the Rams dominating the line of scrimmage, there were plenty of linemen to shout out. Noyes was impressed by the play of senior Diesel Cox and sophomores Garrett Geishaker and Deacon Dolloff. For Lippert, Josh Lajoie’s presence on both sides of the ball made a difference.

“Up front, (he’s our) center, and I thought we did a really nice job running the football,” Lippert said. “The first couple drives, they hit a couple gaps off of inside zones, and then he started plugging those holes defensively with some big sticks. He might have even caused a fumble in there.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• “The three highest football IQs on this team are Anderson Noyes, Davis Noyes and Nolan Noyes, probably. They’ve been around it a long time; their dad (former Colby football player Danny Noyes) was a hell of a player — I know that personally.” — B.L. Lippert

• “We’ve got a lot of commitment in the weight room, and we’ve got a lot of seniors who are really pushing us to strive during practice when we were going out there during look team. That really helps us out on Friday nights.” — Kingston Cox

STAT LEADERS

• Messalonskee: Fin Minkel (7 of 12 passing, 62 yards, touchdown, interception; 10 carries, 115 yards, touchdown)

• Cony: Davis Noyes (nine carries, 50 yards, two touchdowns; three receptions, 40 yards, touchdown; 40-yard passing touchdown), Kingston Cox (12 rushes, 120 yards, two touchdowns)

UP NEXT

• Messalonskee: vs. Fryeburg Academy (1-2), 7 p.m. Friday

• Cony: at Lawrence (4-0), 7 p.m. Friday