Houlton football coach Brian Reynolds knew that the Little Ten Conference would be a challenge for the Shiretowners in their first year of varsity football. He was not wrong. The Shiretowners are 1-3 on the year.
“Turnovers and inconsistent play continue to plague us,” said Reynolds.
And, last Friday night, was no different, as Medomak Valley held Houlton off for a 35-22 win.
Medomak forged a 21-point first-quarter lead behind a drive down the field, a scooped up Houlton fumble and return for a touchdown and finally, capitalizing on another Houlton defensive lapse with a long pass on broken coverage.
The Shiretowners could have easily given in, but they started making their comeback.
Jake Drew sprinted into the end zone from 45 yards out and then he completed the two-point conversion pass to Garrett Ring, as Houlton got on the scoreboard, 21-8.
“That gave us some momentum going into the break,” Reynolds said.
But, another defensive miscue led to Medomak Valley completing a long pass play with 17.5 seconds left in the first half for a 28-8 halftime lead.
Again, that could have broke the Shiretowners’ back. But, it did not.
“We came out in the second half and played much better football, but it was too little too late,” Reynolds said.
Drew hit pay dirt on a short run into the end zone and ran for the two-point conversion, as the Shires trailed 28-16.
“It looks as though we were in business, but Medomak again dashed our hopes,” Reynolds said.
On the ensuing play, Medomak scored on a long touchdown run to extend their lead to 35-16. The Shiretowners marched down the field with Drew driving straight up the gut for a 41-yard score. The conversion run failed, making the score 35-22 at the end of the third.
It would be the eventual final score as neither team was able to break through for a score in the last quarter.
Drew led the Houlton offense running for 272 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns, while passing for a two-point conversion and rushing for another.
Josh Upton chipped in with 37 yards and some solid lead blocking and Nick Botting had 18 yards for the Shires. Ring was 2-4 passing for 37 yards, completing both passes to receiver Jacob Fox.
The Shires amassed 364 yards on 58 plays, while Medomak had 341 yards on 43 plays. The defense was led by Tony Bonilla who had 11 tackles; Jacob Jones had seven tackles and a sack; and Austin Brown had seven tackles with Ring chipping in with three tackles and an interception.
“We are still inconsistent, and hopefully, we will figure out that giving half an effort will get us half a result. It has been the same for us week in and week out,” Reynolds explained. “Looking on the bright side, we controlled the ball for the most part and did a lot of the things we wanted to do. We just need to cut down on some of the mental mistakes we are making defensively.”
The Shiretowners are halfway through their first season and Reynolds see lots of room for improvement.
“We are still battling some injuries, but the younger guys are stepping up to fill the void, so that is good to see,” he said.
The Shiretowners will play at home Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Maliseet Field as they host John Bapst during Homecoming.
“Hopefully we can step it up here in the next few weeks and exhibit some of the potential I feel we had going into the season,” said Reynolds. “It’s not too late to make this season a success and set the tone for the future.”
