Winslow’s Tucker Pomerleau throws a pass against the Maine Central Institute defense during the second half of a football game Saturday at Poulin Field in Winslow. Mike Mandell/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — The setting was perhaps not what those here are accustomed to for the season’s first home football game.

The heat that usually engulfs Poulin Field for early-season games was absent Saturday, which instead saw sub-70 temperatures, a stiff breeze and even some sprinkles here and there. What wasn’t different was Winslow marking its home opener with a win for the 11th straight time, this one a 50-6 victory over Maine Central Institute.

Winslow turned what was a competitive game early (8-6 after the first quarter; 22-6 at half) into a lopsided win with four unanswered touchdowns in the second half. The Black Raiders ran for 299 yards with Hassan Hobbi (17 carries, 142) and Liem Fortin (14 carries, 101, three touchdowns) accounting for the bulk of it.

“I think our kids really responded well to a little bit of adversity there in the first half,” said Winslow head Wes Littlefield. “(MCI) had everybody in the box, which made it a little difficult with the double wing, but we made some adjustments, did some different things, and it was really nice.”

Winslow (1-0) got the ball first and went 63 yards in 11 plays, scoring on a 1-yard plunge by Tucker Pomerleau to go up 8-0. MCI would answer immediately, though, as Caleb Kennedy (12 of 28, 138 yards) hit Jaxson Foster (nine catches, 117 yards) for a score with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Black Raiders answered immediately as they embarked on a seven-play, 50-yard drive that culminated in a 12-yard touchdown run by Fortin with 8:23 left in the second quarter. He would add the second of his three scores with 1:51 left in the half on a 50-yard run.

“We just stayed to our keys and ran power, power, power, power,” Fortin said. “They just couldn’t stop it.”

After forcing an MCI (0-1) turnover on downs to begin the second half, Winslow went 63 yards on 10 plays with Fortin scoring on a 6-yard run with 2:32 left in the third quarter. Two scores from Broddik Bimpson then put it in running time in the fourth before a Gio Garcia touchdown with 40 seconds left capped off the scoring.

After not completing a pass in the first half, Pomerleau completed 5 of his 6 passes in the second half for 81 yards. Those passes included a 30-yard toss to Hobbi that set the Black Raiders up with first-and-goal from the 8 and a 29-yard completion to Fortin that took them to the 15 on the ensuing drive.

“I think that’s something we really wanted to get to and show we could do, and we did today,” Littlefield said. “If you’re going to stack the box on us, we want to show that we can throw, too, or that we can spread you out and do the same thing. I’m liking where we’re at with that and how we executed.”

The game was a rematch of last year’s Class D North quarterfinal showdown, won 55-14 by Winslow. With Kennedy throwing the ball 52 times in that encounter, Littlefield fully expected a similar game plan from MCI today, which the Huskies showed by passing 28 times and rushing just 13.

MCI was also without some key contributors as Drew Shorey and Connor Reynolds, its No. 1 and No. 2 receivers, respectively, were sidelined with injuries. That limited the Huskies in the pass game, though they did find some success in the sophomore Foster and Deontae Burnham (three catches, 28 yards).

“Hats off to Winslow because they do what they do well, but we saw some different stuff today that I think we can build on,” said MCI co-coach Tom Bertrand. “We had our opportunities and weren’t able to capitalize, but it’s not a complete discouragement. The score doesn’t always tell the story; we hung in there.”