MDI Beats Ellsworth In Exhibition Football

Friday night, August 30th was the first ever meeting of the Ellsworth Eagles and MDI Trojans on the football field, and the Trojans came away with a 48-0 victory, in a game played at Ellsworth High School. It was a beautiful night for football, and a good crowd was on hand to watch Ellsworth and MDI play their final exhibition game of the preseason before the regular season begins next Friday night, September 6th.

Ellsworth won the toss and deferred, so MDI took over at their own 30 yard line. In the exhibition, there were no kickoffs, and when punting, there was no rushing, and punts were fair caught.

MDI moved the ball effectively during it's first possession, and scored with 5:07 gone in the first quarter on a Dylan Collins 5 yard run. The point after kick failed, and MDI led 6-0./

MDI scored 1:07 later, as Jon Phelps picked off Stephen Cowles pass, and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. Jon Phelps then threw a pass to Isaiah Keene for the two point conversion  and that made the score 14-0.

MDI scored again with 47 seconds left in the 1st quarter when Taner Bickford scored on a 12 yard run. Phelps kicked the extra point and it was 21-0 MDI.

MDI scored with 3:12 gone in the second quarter as Jon Phelps tucked the ball under his arm and scampered 42 yards, and then kicked the extra point and the score at the half was 28-0 MDI.

Both Ellsworth and MDI substituted liberally in the second half, giving non-starters ample playing time, and allowing the coaches to see how they would perform in game situations.

John Rush scored on a 6 yard run for MDI in the 3rd quarter with 3:41 gone, and Duncan Kane ran in for the two point conversion and it was 36-0 MDI.

Colby Candage scored on a 20 yard run for MDI with 10:39 gone in the 3rd quarter, and the two point conversion failed, making the score 42-0 as the 3rd quarter came to a close.

Billy Laverdiere finished the scoring for MDI in the 4th quarter running for 37 yards with 6:29 gone. The two point conversion failed, and that was the final score 48-0.

Ellsworth played well, but they were plagued by fumbles, as they were working out of the shotgun all night. One of the area of concern for Ellsworth Head Coach Duane Crawford was how the shotgun snaps would go in game time conditions, and that proved to be a problem.

Ellsworth played two quarterbacks, Stephen Cowles and Jacob Shorey. Cowles was 7-10 passing with 1 interception, throwing for 68 yards. Shorey was 0-1 passing. Wally Rummill caught 1 pass for 12 yards, Tyler Getchell caught 6 passes for 64 yards and Michael Garland caught 1 pass for minus 8 yards. Cowles rushed 9 times for 5 yards, Garland rushed 6 times for 12 yards, Cooper Henderson rushed 6 times for 33 yards, Shorey ran 2 times for minus 4 yards and Garrett Moyer ran 3 times for 7 yards.

For MDI Jon Phelps started at quarterback and was 2-3 passing for 36 yards. Jesse Alley had 1 catch for 26 yards and Taner Bickford had 1 catch for 10 yards. Phelps was followed at quarterback by Taner Bickford and Billy Laverdiere. Jon Phelps ran the ball 3 times for 52 yards. Bickford had 7 carries for 47 yards. Colby Candage had 7 carries for 47 yards. John Rush ran for 26 yards on 5 carries. Dylan Collin had 5 rushes for 26 yards. Sandy Henggeler had 5 carries for 81 yards. James Carroll had 2 rushes for 5 yards and Laverdiere had 2 carries for 39 yards. Elijah Malloy carried the ball twice for 18 yards and Chris Farnsworth had 4 carries for 30 yards.

MDI opens the season at home Friday night against Madison. That game will be aired on WDEA Internet Radio with the pregame starting at 6:40 PM. Ellsworth travels to play John Bapst Friday night in Bangor with the kick off at 7 PM.