HobbsDailyReport.com
MAIDEN – With a renewed focus and new quarterback at the controls of its offense, Maiden High got the season-opening football victory it came for on Friday night.
MAIDEN 21
FRED T. FOARD 6
Junior Bain Sipe made his first varsity start — throwing for more than 200 yards and an early score on a long pass – as the Blue Devils edged visiting Fred T. Foard 21-6 to win their first game of the season for the sixth consecutive year.
Bain, who last year (unofficially) completed three of four attempts for 38 yards in a backup role to now-graduated starter Keygan Mayfield, completed 14 of 26 throws as Maiden (1-0) won a game that it led at the half 7-0 at Thomas E. Brown Stadium.
BET YA DIDN’T KNOW…
Jack Colisimo’s kickoff return for a TD in Friday night’s game at Maiden was the first by a Tigers player since Tyler Ruth ran one back 85 yards in the eighth game of the 2009 season when Alexander Central won at Foard 37-21.
The victory avenged a 16-0 loss to Foard the last two times the teams met, in the first round of the state 2A playoffs at Maiden.
Foard (0-1) played Maiden in its first game for the sixth straight year and has not won its first game in a season since beating North Lincoln to open the 2012 season.
Bain gave the Blue Devils an early 7-0 lead with a 78-yard TD pass to Montrell Stinson.
The game’s other scores all came in the fourth quarter.
Maiden extended its lead to 14-0 about two minutes into the final quarter on a 1-yard run by Lee Turner.
Foard quarterback Jack Colisimo returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for the Tigers’ only score.
With nearly five mintues still to play, Malik Kennedy ran 4 yards for a TD for Maiden.
Maiden is riding a 13-game win streak in the regular season and next plays on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against East Burke in Icard.
Foard, 12-13 under head coach Derrick Minor (starting his third season), plays its home opener on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Bandys (1-0).
Notes
Maiden has beaten Foard in eight of their last nine matchups and in 30 of their last 32 battles … Foard’s wins over Maiden since 1980 are 1982 at Maiden, 1983 at Foard, 1985 at Foard, 2008 at Maiden and 2017 in the playoffs at Maiden … The victory was career win No. 20 for Maiden’s Will Byrne (20-5), a former Blue Devils wide receiver who started his third season as Blue Devils head coach.. With 12 wins at Foard, Minor will reach 13 quicker than any Foard head coach since Allen Gorry got his 13th in his third season (2000). The most recent coaches to stay three years, Tom Harper and Ryan Gettys, had seven and six wins, respectively, at the end of their third season with the Tigers.