HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton football team will host a home playoff game for the first time in the modern era after the Shires blasted Schenck/Stearns 34-0 Friday evening in the regular season finale.
Houlton (4-4) finished as the No. 4 seed in the Class D North Crabtree standings and will face No. 5 Foxcroft Academy (3-5) at 7 p.m. Friday at the Maliseet Sports Complex. Foxcroft Academy beat Houlton 32-21 in an Oct. 4 regular season contest.
“Friday night the defense pitched a shutout with Miguel Jimenez Jr. leading the way with 12 tackles,” Houlton coach Brian Reynolds said. “Chris Caswell had a ‘pick 6’ (touchdown) and Thomas Wilcox also had an interception.”
Noah Reynolds paced the offense with 208 yards and a score and also added a 2-point conversion. David Tucker Jr. had a touchdown and a 2-point conversion and Justin Cook chipped in with 36 yards and a score on just four carries.
Zach Conley stepped in at quarterback and threw for 157 yards and connected on a 67-yard strike to slot receiver Troy Hipsley for a score.
The Shires also made a few changes to its offense for the game.
“This week we moved Will Belyea to wide receiver from quarterback,” coach Reynolds said. “The tandem of he and Caleb Solomon at the wideout positions really stretches the defense and open things up for us. Having a deep threat on both sides of the field is tough to cover.”
The Shires continued to run the ball effectively and the new passing threat opened up the team’s offense. “We have been struggling to put points on the board in the last few weeks so assistant coach (Jon) Solomon switched things up a bit and we were able to score 34 points against a very tough Stearns team,” Reynolds said. “I think this is a good sign for us heading into the playoffs.”
The Shires have the No. 2 defense in the conference and have given up the third fewest points in Class D statewide behind Bucksport and Winthrop-Monmouth. “The defense has only given up 13 points in the last three games and continues to play a stout, bend but not break style,” he said. “This gives us a lot of confidence heading into the postseason.”
Strong offensive line play continues to be the Shires’ calling card. “The first unit comprised of Jeremy Dill, Josh Monteith, Kurtis Reynolds, Jaron Brewer and Jackson Morris have been great all year and keep giving our RB’s open running lanes,” the coach said. “Power backs David Tucker Jr, Darrien Henderson and Ethan Grant are a nice compliment to the O-Line and make our ground game tough to stop. Noah Reynolds leads our conference in rushing with 1,000 yards on the season and Justin Cook showed this week that he is ready for more carries.”
