RallyNorth.net

Defense excels, but Sanborn falls short

Saturday, September, 25 By Jeff Hamrick
Staff writer

KINGSTON — It may not have been the result Mike Drouin was hoping for, but the Sanborn coach felt positive following the contest.

“We’ve been in the last couple games,” Drouin said. “We fight to the end. We hit and we don’t quit, but I think right now we don’t believe we can win. I think there’s that little doubt in the backs of our heads that they’re waiting for the wheels to fall off. They just need to believe in themselves.”

Despite an impressive defensive effort, Sanborn fell to Stevens 6-0 yesterday.

A tough defense stymied Stevens (3-1). The Indians held the Cardinals to a measly 14 yards rushing on 36 attempts and 93 yards total offense. The Cardinals, who compiled 53 of those yards on their three-play scoring drive, didn’t pick up a first down until the 4:24 mark of the second quarter and finished the game with six.

Junior defensive end Jeremy Daignault had three sacks for a total of 27 yards and the Indians had 12 tackles for losses, including one for 24 on a bad snap on an attempted punt. Early in the second quarter, Sanborn held the Cardinals to 9 yards and no points on a four-play possession that began at the Sanborn 11.

“I’ve told the guys that hopefully later in the season we’ll be playing fine,” Drouin said. “We’re still in the hunt for that fourth playoff berth. There’s a lot of football left to go. We just have to go out there and win. We have to execute and get back to basics.”

Playing without leading rusher Glen Smith, who suffered a deep thigh bruise in last week’s loss to Somersworth, Sanborn’s offense accumulated 149 yards on 55 plays, with 57 of them coming on a 13-play drive that fizzled at the Stevens 29 early in the second period.

“We just need to get there,” said quarterback Ryan Morris. “We’re right there. We just need to get those extra couple yards, and we need to execute better. If we keep ourselves upbeat, we’ll be OK.”