BUCKSPORT- Jordan Knighton ran for 152 yards in the second half alone, and scored three third quarter touchdowns on Friday night lifting the Freeport Falcons to a 26-7 Class D High School football win over the Bucksport Golden Bucks at Carmichael Field.
The teams battled to a scoreless first half, but not without some chances. Bucksport (1-3) took the first possession of the game to the Freeport 24 yard line, only to come up inches short of a first down on a fourth down play. The Falcons also had a chance when they punted, and the ball hit the Golden Bucks Gunny Cyr who was back to block for the returner and the ball was recovered by Freeport at the Bucksport 47. The guests couldn’t take advantage of that turnover, and late in the second quarter Jackson Carr would miss a 26 yard field goal for the Falcons as the teams went to the break 0-0.
Freeport (4-1) started solidly with the first possession of the third quarter including runs of 42 and 34 yards by Knighton, but Nick White fumbled at the Bucksport nine yard line to turn it over. On the first play after the fumble, Golden Bucks quarterback Ayden Maguire nearly got sacked in the endzone for a safety but was down at the one yard line. A 29 yard punt out of their own endzone resulted in the first score of the night. Knighton would go 34 yards down the left sideline for a 7-0 lead. McGuire was then intercepted on the ensuing possession deep in his own territory, and Knighton made it 14-0 just seconds later with a seven yard scoring run. Knighton was not done as he found pay dirt again late in the quarter with a 13 yard TD scamper and Freeport extended to a 20-0 advantage. Josh Miller got Bucksport on the board for the only time on the night with 26 seconds left in the third quarter with a one yard TD run, after Maguire had connected with sophomore wide receiver Gavyn Holyoke for a 27 yard pass on a 4th and 11 at the Falcons 29. Freeport quarterback Aidan Heath finished the scoring on a keeper for a two yard TD with just 4:23 left in the game.
Knighton was the top offensive performer on the night with 20 carries for 220 yards and the three touchdowns in the Freeport win. He accounted for over half of the Falcons yards on the night. White added 11 carries for 50 yards, and Tony Casale attempted six runs for 34. Heath went 6-11 passing for 42 yards. Maguire would lead Bucksport in the loss going 10-18 passing for 131 yards and two interceptions. Holyoke caught seven passes for 70 yards, Tyler Hallett caught one for 47 yards, and Jaxon Gross added 36 yards on nine carries out of the Bucks backfield.
FREE (4-1) 0 0 20 6- 26
BUCKS (1-3) 0 0 7 0- 7
Total yards- Freeport 346, Bucksport 172
Turnovers- Freeport 1, Bucksport 3
