Houlton varsity football team debuts

The Houlton High School football team made a commendable showing at Ellsworth on Monday afternoon.
In a controlled scrimmage, which ran more than 45 offensive plays for each team, the Shires held the Ellsworth Eagles to a 6-6 tie before the Eagles pushed in a touchdown in the final minute to go ahead 12-6.
    Tailback Ryan Baptista ran a 55-yard sweep to the left to tie the scrimmage. Jake Drew, at quarterback, led his team mixing play calls from Head Coach Brian Reynolds.
“We are definitely on the right track.” said Reynolds. “We have only been together for nine practice sessions.”
The defense contained the Eagles for much of the scrimmage. Bending, but not breaking.
“The kids had fun, and had the measure of themselves against an established varsity program,” said Reynolds. “We’ll work on some weaknesses and fine tune our strengths this week and improve.”
The team travels to Millinocket on Friday for an exhibition game against Stearns at 7 p.m.