By Chris LaClair
Eagle Times Sports Editor
CLAREMONT, NH — A Friday night showdown became a Saturday morning feature as lightning delayed Friday night’s meeting of the Stevens Cardinals and Monadnock Huskies.
Unlike the previous game against Inter-Lakes-Marlborough where the Stevens offense didn’t get stopped until the fourth quarter, the Cardinals punted after going four and out on their first possession.
On the next possession, the Cardinal defense came up big when senior Braeden Pignatiello blocked the field goal attempt by the Huskies kicker.
Junior Cardinal Zach Richardson helped Stevens grab momentum on their drive as he ran for a huge first down to the 41-yard line on their own end. The Huskies stripped the ball, and Chase Elliott took the fumble from the 50-yard marker to the house for a touchdown. They failed on their two-point conversion for a 6-0 lead.
In the second half, the Huskies broke the goal line plain on a third down and goal from the 1-yard line to extend their lead. After the two-point conversion was good, Stevens was facing a 14-0 deficit.
The Cardinals would not lay down as they drove down to the redzone to score on two touchdowns that didn’t count as they were called back due to an illegal formation on the first flag and a holding penalty on the next. They failed to get into the endzone as the pass attempt on fourth down was incomplete.
The Huskies focused primarily on Cardinal senior Tyler “Tank” Christian, holding him to only 60 yards on 18 attempts. You could hear the sideline of Monadnock yelling to “tackle him low, or he won’t go down!”
Stevens fumbled the football four times, with two fumbles resulting in turnovers. They also turned the ball over a third time on a last-second interception thrown to seal the game.
“We continue to make mental mistakes that rear their head in turnovers, missed assignments, and penalties.” Stevens Head Coach Josh Duford said. “We have shown that we can compete with the best in this division but need to be more disciplined if we want to get over the hump.”
Stevens (0-2) will travel to Campbell (2-0) on Saturday, Sept. 16, for a matchup that starts at 10 a.m.
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