By Chris LaClair EAGLE TIMES SPORTS EDITOR
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Stevens High School Cardinals took on Inter-Lakes Moultonborough Lakers Friday night under the lights at Barnes Park.
The two football teams battled each other in the season opener last fall with the Cardinals pulling ahead with an early 10-0 lead before falling 22-26 to the Lakers.
The Lakers denied the Cardinals in their comeback attempt Friday securing a 27-20 victory in a back-and-forth contest during a game with early playoff implications. Last season was a tight race for the final playoff spot as the Lakers had one more win than the Cardinals, making the season opener in both seasons key games to win for each team.
The Cardinals moved the ball down the field methodically on their first possession of the game. A false start on the 1-yard line pushed them back to the 6-yard line. Senior QB Tyler “Tank” Christian punched the ball into the end zone from 6 yards out at the 5:07 mark in the first quarter of action on a clock-eating drive on the ground. Their 2-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Inter-Lakes Moultonborough formulated their own clock-eating drive on the ground. They found themselves in a fourth-and-goal from the Stevens 1-yard line. A stop would have been huge for momentum for the Cardinals; however, junior Garrett Hayward has his own plans as he broke into the end zone for the score. The extra point kick sailed through the uprights for a 7-6 lead for the Lakers.
After another false start deep into Lakers territory moved the ball back to the 10-yard line. The Cardinals recovered as Christian ran in for his second rushing touchdown on third down at the 3:25 mark of the first half. A bad exchange stopped the Cardinals from executing another 2-point conversion as they settled for a 12-7 lead.
The Cardinals failed to stop the Lakers from scoring before the half as they found the end zone on a touchdown pass from 18 yards out with only 12 seconds remaining in the half. The extra point was good for a 14-12 Lakers lead.
The first half closed with the Cardinals taking a knee after a short kickoff return in a half that saw a long clock consuming drives with both teams taking care of the ball with zero turnovers.
The Lakers drove down the field on the first possession of the second half to the redzone.
Two huge stops from the Cardinal goal line defense on second and third down on the 1-yard line had the Cardinal faithful screaming with excitement. The Lakers were forced to call a timeout to formulate a play to execute to get into the end zone and quiet the crowd. The Lakers broke the goal line on a huge fourth down push from the offensive line at the 7:27 mark. The extra point was good for a Lakers 21-12 lead.
A huge kickoff return from Cardinals junior Zach Richardson set up great field position at the 43-yard line on the Lakers side of the field. Another undisciplined false start pushed them back to the 48-yard line. Stevens executed a huge fourth down conversion at the 2:12 mark of the third quarter with a 3-yard run from Christian. He then punched in his third rushing touchdown of the game with 9:33 remaining in the contest.
Freshman Carter Thyne caught a huge 2-point conversion pass from Christian to cut the lead to 20-21 with the Lakers ahead.
One minute later, a touchdown pass from 29 yards out put the Lakers ahead on the shortest scoring drive of the game. They missed their first extra point kick settling for a 27-20 lead.
Stevens had the game’s first turnover on downs as they had to give the ball back to Inter-Lakers Moultonborough with 3:54 remaining in the game. The Lakers had the game’s first punt with only 1 minute left in the game after a big defensive effort from the Cardinals defense.
Christian tried to make a play on fourth down on a desperation pass that was picked off by the Lakers defense to seal the game.
“It’s always tough when you lose the opener, but that’s a tough team with a really strong quarterback,” said Steven’s Head Coach Josh Duford. “We played hard and physical, but we are a young, inexperienced team that went through some growing pains tonight.”
Stevens (0-1) host Monadnock (1-0) at 7 p.m., Friday.
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