GRAY — Any time you want to hand over the football to Gray-New Gloucester running back Austin Chase, he will gladly take it off your hands — and will likely find his way to the end zone for a touchdown.

That’s what Chase did for most of night Friday, scoring four touchdowns and making several solid hits on defense to help lead Gray-New Gloucester to a 36-0 win over Freeport and a 3-0 start to the season, the best in school history.

“Well, I couldn’t score all my touchdowns without the line,’ Chase said. “It (Freeport) is my hometown and so I came out thinking we are going to win. But I wanted to win and beat my (former) hometown.”

The Freeport Falcons knew there was trouble whenever they saw the lanky senior back barreling through an opening provided by that indomitable line.

Chase and Zack Haskell are two reasons why the Patriots are undefeated. The duo took turns running up and down the field, with Haskell bolting for a 55-yard touchdown on a kick-off return late in the fourth quarter.

Haskell’s run was just after the Patriots’ defense forced a safety when the Falcons had their backs against the wall deep in their own territory.

Chase didn’t mind at all that he was the point man on offense, and he doesn’t mind carrying the load offense despite the punishment.

“I love it,” Chase said. “Sometimes, I am like, ‘Coach, I can’t do it,’ but I got to push through it and do it for my team.

“Coach said that if we threw more than five times, he was quitting. Every second, I just want to keep getting the ball.”

Of course, Chase feels it the next day.

“Yes, we love giving it to Chase,” Patriots coach Mark Renna said. “Basically, Monday’s practice is an ice bath (for Chase), and we are OK with that.”

But Chase will gladly take the pain to keep his Patriots on top.

Chase scored on 1-yard run after the Patriots blocked a kick on the punt. Four plays later, Chase was back in the end zone despite a fumble. He landed on the ball in the end zone and quarterback Justice Bowie reeled off the conversion pass to Zack Terrell for the two-point conversion pass. The Patriots led 14-0.

Chase was back in business again when the Patriots moved from the 10-yard line to the 4, where Chase delivered his third touchdown. The conversion pass failed, but Gray-New Gloucester was leading 20-0.

The Patriots turned to Chase again in the third quarter and he found open ground to deliver a 44-yard touchdown — his fourth of the game. Bowie conjured up another two-point conversion pass and found Haskell open, giving the Patriots a 28-0.

But Falcons coach Paul St. Pierre was still proud of his Falcons

“You know we are still playing tough,” St. Pierre said. “It’s a kind of a rebuilding year, so there’s a lot of guys that are in there for the first time. For a lot of these guys, this was their third game they ever played.

“Gray-New Gloucester, this year, is off to a great start. You can tell their seniors got tired of having two 0-8 seasons in there. They are ready to play this year. They brought it tonight. I am proud of my guys, but we got to tighten up a few things and you have got play every single play.”