By Ray Curren
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — As it turned out, all that separated the Stevens football team from an historic comeback Friday night at Barnes Park was Laconia’s 5-foot-9 nose guard Aiden Valentino.
The Cardinals had done most of the hard work to erase a four-touchdown third quarter deficit and looked to be driving for the winning score with time running out when Valentino sniffed out a screen pass that had worked perfectly earlier in the night. He stood his ground and the short throw landed right in his lap for an unlikely interception.
From there the Sachems were able to run out the clock and leave Claremont with a 27-22 victory that was monumentally tougher than it looked late in the third quarter when they led 27-0 and appeared to have all the momentum.
“We just got too comfortable,” Laconia coach Craig Kozens said. “We just sat back and they got a score. Then they got another score. Then they had all the momentum and we just had to hold on.”
The immediate momentum changed with four minutes left in the third quarter and Stevens not only trailing 27-0 but backed up to its own 1-yard line. However, junior Jai-Lique Ribeiro — who had a long touchdown called back due to a penalty in the first half — turned the corner and outraced the entire Laconia defense for a 99-yard touchdown run, obviously at least tying the longest run from scrimmage in the more than century-long history of Stevens football.
From there, to say it was all Stevens might be an understatement. Senior Hunter Christian not only picked up a fumble, but scored on a 1-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter soon after to cut the deficit to 27-16. After yet another three-and-out, the Cardinals (1-2) were in the end zone again four plays later, and again it was Christian. Suddenly, it was 27-22 with 7:50 still left, which certainly felt like an eternity for the Sachems (1-2).
Stevens got the ball back with 4:04 left and had a first down on the Laconia 35-yard line with 2:45 on the clock. But enter 240-pound Valentino, who ruined the hosts’ party when he stepped in front of a Zack Bundy (10-of-21, 104 yards) screen pass and intercepted it.
“He’s a smart player and he just stayed home and put himself in the right position,” Kozens said. “We were joking how far he would get if he got an interception, and we put the over/under at 5 and he got more than 5, so we’ll give him a donut.”
Despite having chances to score, Stevens trailed 21-0 at halftime as Laconia put up touchdowns on its first three possessions. But the Sachems would get only 43 total yards of offense the rest of the night. They got their fourth score after Drew Hosmer returned the second-half kickoff 76 yards to the Stevens 14-yard line. In all, the Cardinals outgained the Sachems 201-45 in the second half.
“As far as the second half goes, that’s the team I know we have defensively,” Stevens coach Paul Silva said. “They couldn’t do anything in the second half when we started to get our rear end up the field and started hitting people. That’s what we have to do and when we do we’re pretty darn good. When we play physical, we’re pretty good and teams are going to have a lot of trouble with us.”
Ribeiro finished with 142 yards on 10 carries to lead the Cardinals, who host Kearsarge next week. Cole Roy led the Sachems with 98 yards on 17 attempts, but 84 of them came in the first half. Laconia threw only four passes all evening, but two of them were completed to 6-foot-6 sophomore tight end Keaton Beck, including one for a touchdown.
“Nobody wants to lose, but I’m really proud of the effort they put in, at least in the second half,” Silva said.
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