A blocked punt on their first possession was the first sign that it wasn’t Boothbay’s night on Oct. 11 against Yarmouth. Five plays later, Clipper running back Spencer Lebrecque scored on a 12-yard rush, one of three touchdowns the Clippers scored in the game’s first 17 minutes. Boothbay trailed 24-0 and never really mounted any threat against its big school conference foe Yarmouth in a 50-20 loss in eight-man football. 

The Clippers dominated Boothbay’s defense in amassing 422 total yards. Yarmouth did most of the damage on the ground with 396 rushing yards on 59 carries. Boothbay knew the Clipper running tandem of quarterback Jack McGrath and Lebrecque would handle most of the Clippers’ rushes, but the Seahawks simply couldn’t contain them.

“We told them all week that 7 and 42 would run the ball. And that’s exactly what they did,” Boothbay Coach Ed Crocker said. “They ran right up the middle, which is the strength of our defense. We just didn’t come ready to play. There was no energy or life out there.”

Boothbay amassed 218 yards of total offense. The Seahawk running game rushed for 80 yards. In the passing game, Boothbay had limited success. Quarterback Hunter Crocker passed for two touchdowns. Midway through the second quarter, Crocker connected with Michael Cusumano on a 24-yard touchdown pass. But Yarmouth responded with its fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run. With Yarmouth leading 30-8 with seconds left in the half, Boothbay kick returner Michael Hollowell breathed life into the Seahawks with an electrifying 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. 

At the half, Boothbay had edged itself to within 30-14, two scores from a tie. But a new half only resulted in Yarmouth continuing its pattern of running straight up the middle of Boothbay’s defensive line. A Clipper runner ran 56 yards on a touchdown run. Boothbay countered on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Crocker to Stephen Bennett. But that was one of few highlights for Boothbay, as Coach Crocker could list the number of good plays on one hand. “We had about three or four. Of course, Michael’s kickoff return. There was a lot of good down field blocking. Hunter (Crocker) threw a couple of touchdown passes, and Stephen Bennett made a nice run and catch on a touchdown, but other than that, there wasn’t much to say about tonight,” he said.

This was Yarmouth’s second straight win. After a slow start, the Clippers (3-3) have turned their season around by scoring 64 points last week versus Gray-New Gloucester and 50 against Boothbay. The Seahawks fall to 3-3, but retained the top spot in eight-man football’s small school conference’s Crabtree point standings.

Boothbay travels to Kittery on Saturday, Oct. 19 to face Traip Academy at 1:30 p.m. On Sept. 19, Boothbay defeated Traip, 52-14, in Boothbay Harbor.