WINTHROP — The Winthrop-Monmouth football team Rambled on Friday night.

After a perfect regular season, the top-ranked team in Western D continued its winning ways with a convincing win to open the playoffs. The Ramblers scored five times in the first half en route to a 40-0 win over Telstar.

Winthrop-Monmouth has now outscored opponents 165-28 in its last four wins, not including a forfeit by Sacopee Valley. It has meant for an easy road to some wins for the Ramblers — almost too easy.

“It showed tonight,” Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton said. “We haven’t played a team .500 or better in a month. We’re concerned about that. We’re not in these plays where everybody else is right now. It’s hard to get focused, they’re eager and they want to get after it again.”

The Ramblers (9-0) had beaten Telstar (2-7) 42-6 in the regular season. The Rebels were expected to have their hands full against a potent top seed, but the Ramblers tried to stay on point this past week.

“This week we tried to get each other pumped up and trying to fly around,” said senior quarterback Jared Hanson. “Coach tried to let us know that we can’t just walk onto the field and expect to win.”

Jacob Weeks rushed for two touchdowns and Hanson passed for one as the Ramblers opened a 34-0 by halftime. Zach Glazier and Dennis McHugh rushed for scores as well as the Ramblers outgained the Rebels 308-36 in the first half.

“You have to give Winthrop-Monmouth credit,” Telstar coach Tim O’Connors said. “They’re a very good team. We knew we were the little guys going up against the giants. They played well.”

The Rebels knew they had an uphill climb and came into the game just hoping to play hard and see what they could do in their first playoff appearance.

“The first year, we won no games,” O’Connor said. “Last year we won one game. This year we won two games and made the playoffs. So our program is progressing. We’re not huge in numbers but we’re big in spirit.”

Winthrop-Monmouth struggled in the early going. Telstar caught them by surprise on the first series and were able to move the ball, with some help from some Rambler penalties.

“We were thinking they’d come out and run power football,” said Stoneton, whose team had over 100 yards in penalties. “We had practiced against that all week. They came out and spread the field. I thought it was a great game plan for them. It took us a little time to get playing.”

The Rebels moved into Rambler territory on that first drive but stalled at the 45. Winthrop -Monmouth fumbled away its first possession but after getting the ball back, the Ramblers got the offense going.

After two quick pass plays, Glazier took it in from the 6 for a 7-0 lead with 4:12 left in the first.  The Ramblers got the ball back and quickly upped the lead to 14-0 with 1:45 left. Weeks broke the first of two long scoring runs. He finished off a 48-yard run to double the lead.

“I just had to follow my blocking,” said Weeks, a senior back who finished with 117 yards in three carries. “The field is really crappy. It wasn’t the greatest. I just had to stay with my blocking and I found my holes.”

Winthrop-Monmouth made it 21-0 with 9:34 left in the half. Hanson connected with Drew Stratton for a 22-yard pass play. It was a nice diving catch for Stratton in the end zone.

“The line did a hell of a job,” said Hanson, who threw for 145 yards on six completions. “It was like everything just parted and there was a window. I threw it up and saw Drew dive and it was two inches off the ground. It was a hell of a catch. He made me look good on that one.”

Weeks broke one for 68 yards with 7:02 left to make it 28-0. Then after a Telstar punt that hit a lineman and went two yards, Winthrop-Monmouth turned that into a McHugh plunge from the 1 with 3:15 left in the half.

The Ramblers added a Dustin Tripp score from the 1 in the fourth quarter.

“We have big play potential,” Stoneton said. “We have to control the ball and put drives together. That was hard tonight when we broke a couple of long ones. We haven’t had that test and that worries us a lot.”

kmills@sunjournal.com