By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
NEWPORT — Monadnock spoiled Newport’s Homecoming Weekend Saturday with a come-from-behind 28-22 victory over the Tigers with 3:03 remaining in the game.
Now 1-4, Newport will travel to Somersworth for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night.
“We had some defensive breakdowns and we can’t make mistakes against a good team,” Newport Coach John Proper said following Newport’s third straight defeat before the largest crowd of the season.
“We had breakdowns that led to big plays by Monadnock,” Proper added.
After Monadnock scored its final touchdown to take a 28-22 lead, the Huskies recovered their onside kickoff at the Newport 48-yard line with 2:59 left in the game and just ran the clock out.
Monadnock, now 3-2, then picked up a first down, which iced the victory as the Tigers had no time outs remaining.
The two teams swapped possessions throughout the opening half. Monadnock scored first with 7:10 left on the new scoreboard clock in the second period. Hard-running senior Lincoln Blodgett bulled his way into the end zone from the seven-yard line, carrying three Newport defenders with him for a 6-0 Huskie lead.
Newport came charging back in less than two minutes with Josh Sharron finding running room down the left sideline after receiving a pass from quarterback Marius Edwards who booted the extra point giving the Tigers a 7-6 halftime advantage.
Just before the half, however, Monadnock had a shot at the goal line when it ran out of downs inside the 10-yard line with 10.4 seconds remaining in the half.
Once the second half started, there was plenty of back and forth play for the fans to enjoy.
Newport’s defense stopped a Monadnock drive at the Tiger two-yard line, taking over possession. Three plays later the Huskies intercepted a pass by Edwards at the 11-yard marker and in two plays Doyle crashed through the middle for a score with 4.7 seconds left in the third period and Monadnock had the lead once again at 12-7.
With 11:18 to go in the final stanza, Jagger Lovely picked up a key block on his way to a 36-yard touchdown. A pass for the extra points pushed Newport back into the lead at 15-12.
Not to be denied, back came the Huskies once again when Blodgett took a pass for a touchdown-run that covered 50 yards. Dole rushed for the two extra points and Monadnock regained the lead at 20-15.
On the next kickoff, Newport started out at the Monadnock 43-yard line following a boot that went out of bounds. On first down Edwards connected with fullback Chase Hamilton who spun away from a defender for a touchdown putting Newport up 22-20, following a successful point-after kick.
At the 3:02 mark, Jackson Lepisto set up Monadnock’s final touchdown that was scored by Doyle and Lepisto added the pair of extra points for the final 28-22 score.
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