11/24/2007
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
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Staff Writer
Augusta --It won't be remembered as one of the greatest upsets in a series that dates to 1892. It certainly won't be remembered as the best-played game. No attendance records were threatened either.
But it's still Cony-Gardiner, and that still matters.
Senior captains Matt Rende and Cam O'Brien combined for three touchdowns, and the Rams scored 26 unanswered points to rally past the Tigers 32-14 Friday before a subdued crowd of about 1,000 at Alumni Field.
"We get the boot back," said Cony coach Robby Vachon, whose Rams trailed 14-6 at halftime before storming back. "We want that boot. We earned it."
The winner of the series, which Cony leads 65-55-10, receives a boot inscribed with the annual scores. The boot, which didn't make it to the sloppy field Friday, has been collecting dust in the trophy case at Gardiner Area School the last five years. Thanks to O'Brien (128 total yards) and Cony quarterback Rende (153 passing yards, 51 rushing), the boot will make its first appearance at Cony since the 2001 season.
"We knew we could take it from Gardiner," said O'Brien, whose two touchdown receptions in the third quarter turned a 14-6 deficit into an 18-14 lead. O'Brien finished with 59 receiving yards and another 69 on the ground. "They were vulnerable. They had nothing to lose. We had everything to gain."
After the game, a disappointed Gardiner coach Matt Brown said his players were just too physically and emotionally drained after winning the Class B state title last weekend.
"The kids didn't care about it," he said. "There was no emotion. The effort was disappointing. They got their gold ball last weekend, and I guess they were satisfied with that. We told them that we have to play until the end, and we didn't do that."
The Rams, who showed some rust early after not playing since Oct. 26 in a Pine Tree Conference Class A quarterfinal defeat to Lewiston, held Gardiner without a first down in the first half yet still trailed 14-6.
The Tigers (11-2) turned good field position into points in the opening half, scoring rushing touchdowns from Bass Chadwick (16 yards) and Brad Carleton (15). For highlights, that was it for Gardiner, which attempted just one pass and finished with four first downs.
"It won't affect the season," said Gardiner senior quarterback Kyle Stilphen, who was nursing two calf injuries and did not play on defense. "We were pretty beat up from last week."
The Rams (5-5), in turn, were fired up, even if it took them a half to get going. Rende ignited the comeback with a 15-yard touchdown strike to O'Brien with 10 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third. About seven minutes later, the two connected again, this time from 20 yards out, to give the Rams an 18-14 lead it would not relinquish. Both scores came on crossing patterns, as the Rams brought O'Brien, a fullback, across the middle to provide Rende another option.
"We got back in it and kept going," said Rende, who added a rushing touchdown in the second quarter. "We came out kind of flat earlier in the game and we made some adjustments."
"It was the Rende show in the second half," Vachon added. "With a four- or five-week layoff, we were a bit off, but we got Rende out of the pocket and he throws better on the run."
Leading 18-14 after three quarters, the Rams put the game out of reach when O'Brien rushed for a 5-yard touchdown with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.
"I kept my feet going," O'Brien said. "You can't go half speed against a team like that. I took off and barreled as fast as I could."
The Tigers, who didn't earn a first down until there was 9:51 left in the third, never threatened in the second half, sticking primarily to a ground game with the carries divided by five backs. Bass Chadwick paced the Tigers with 75 yards on 12 carries.
Joey Record (38 yards on 15 carries) capped the scoring, with a 1-yard run with 3:18 left. The Rams finished with 315 yards of total offense, including 187 in the second half. The Tigers finished with 129 yards of offense, all on the ground.
"I think Gardiner is not going to come in and not try," O'Brien said. "They were going to come in and try and kill us."
Bill Stewart -- 621-3811, ext. 515
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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