CLAREMONT- Cardinals football hosted Inter-Lakes-Moultonborough on Friday night at Barnes Park. Stevens rolled, winning 42-7, with the majority of the second half having a running clock.
“I’m proud of these guys and the way they’re playing so far this year,” said Stevens head coach Paul Silva, whose team is now 3-0 and has outscored their first three opponents 102-7.
The points came pouring in for Stevens on the night, and that began on the very first play from scrimmage. Keaghan McAllister took a direct snap around the right end for a 65 yard rushing touchdown, and the Cardinals were out to a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds in.
After an Inter-Lakes three-and-out, Stevens’ return man, Baylor Rozzell fielded the punt at his own 30 and came up with an electric return, dodging multiple Lakers defenders and setting Stevens up at the opponent’s 16 yard-line. The drive would result in another early touchdown, as Gabe Spaulding punched it in from three yards out to go up 14-0 after just 3:30 came off the game clock.
“We were sitting there at 14-0 thinking that points were going to just show up… you got to work in this game,” said Silva. Making Stevens work to earn their points is exactly what the Lakers did on the next possession. After another three-and-out, Inter-Lakes punted, and Rozzell came up with another big return for Stevens, this time 45 yards. Stevens set up shop at Inter-Lakes’ 25 yard-line, and after a first down, saw themselves with a first and goal from the six. Stevens couldn’t manage to break into the endzone, eventually being stuffed on fourth and goal from the one.
Stevens’ next possession started at their own 47 yard-line, and ended with a turnover on downs at the opponent’s 30. Luckily for the Cardinals, Inter-Lakes started to make mistakes, and the home team was ready to capitalize.
On a second and ten, Inter-Lakes fumbled in their backfield, and was recovered by Stevens’ Josh Stithen at Inter-Lakes’ 24 yard-line. They then scored on a 3-play, 50 second drive. All three plays were rushes by McAllister, as he punched it in from the six to go up 21-0 at the 8:09 mark in the second.
Inter-Lakes responded with their lone-scoring drive of the day. They marched for a 66-yard, 5:35 drive to try to chip back into the game. “That was a nice drive… you got to tip your cap to them… they worked for it,” said coach Silva, “You’re not going to shut teams out in this division all year long.”
After a Stevens punt, Inter-Lakes fumbled on their first play of the drive, setting up Stevens at the Lakers’ 45 with 53 seconds left in the first half. After a 15-yard penalty by the Lakers, McAllister ran it in from 20 yards out (on a backwards screen pass) for his third TD of the day with just 17 seconds left in the half.
On a third and three from their own 27, the Lakers made another mistake on their next drive. They tried a screen pass on the left side, but Stithen sniffed it out, jumped the route, and made the pick. He didn’t stop there. The 220-pound defensive end shook a tackler with a spin move to the outside and took it 15 yards to the house, putting Stevens up 35-7.
The very next play from scrimmage was also a pick for Stevens. Defensive tackle Phillip Mason recorded the interception on a similar play-call by the Lakers, and returned it six yards down to the one yard-line. The defender that was hurrying the quarterback on the play was Stithen, adding to his list of accomplishments Friday night.
On Stithen’s play, coach Silva said, “He’s been a real pleasant surprise. He didn’t play last year and he came out this year, and I wasn’t sure where we were going to find a place for him. He had been a tight end as a sophomore. We needed some help on the line… he jumped right in to the offensive line and the defensive line, and he’s been a rock for us on both sides of the ball. He does everything that we ask of him.”
Matt Jones punched it in for Stevens from the one. Stevens’ defense took control of the game in the second half. The Cardinals had a 42-7 lead with still over 22 minutes to play. On his players, Silva said, “I was really happy the way they came out of halftime defensively and they really set the tone. It’s nice to see the linemen get their hands up and do what they’re supposed to do.”
In the win, McAllister ran the ball 11 times for 143 yards (13 YPC) and 3 TDs in just one half of work. Spaulding ran 8 times for 58 yards (7.25 YPC) and 1 TD. Quentin Bicknell completed 5 of 7 passes for 33 yards.
“Overall, I’ll take it,” said Silva. “It’s a home win. We only got one home win all of last year and this our second this year already… it’s nice to give our home town something to cheer about.”
Stevens returns to action on Friday, September 21 when they head to Somersworth (0-3) for a 7 p.m. game.
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