Early in the fourth quarter, with the Waterville varsity football team holding a precarious 7-6 lead at Sandy Creek, center Kristen Sinardo placed one hand in the mud.
By that point in the game, the grass home field for the Comets - slick with earlier rain and the 38-degree temperature last Friday evening - had worn down to mud in spots. Players Darren Johnson, Connor Marriott and Trystin Graham had turned their visiting white jerseys into mud-covered ones.
Sinardo placed his other hand on the ball at the start of the 1st and 15 down after a penalty had pushed the Indians back to the 17-yard line. And as he did all game in the challenging conditions, Sinardo snapped a perfect one to quarterback Cody Spooner.
Spooner, who took over as quarterback after coaches realized there was no cloning multi-talented Marriott and moved him to running back and receiver on offense, executed a nice handoff to Graham. With blocks from Johnson and Logan Niles, the sophomore sliced up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown run. When the pass attempt fell incomplete, the Indians led 13-6 with 10:26 to play.
They held on to that lead, making the 90-minute ride home much more pleasant, and upping their record…