OAKLAND — The first half ended in the worst manner possible for Lawrence: A Messalonskee touchdown with a second left that seemed to steal the momentum.
A long halftime followed for the Bulldogs. Then, in an instant, Preston Roy quite literally ripped that momentum right back.
With Lawrence set to go on defense up 29-21, Roy’s strip and return for a touchdown on the second-half kickoff put the Bulldogs back up two scores. What had been a competitive football game throughout was never a one-score affair again as Lawrence claimed a 48-28 victory Friday at Veterans Field.
“We do a drill at least once a week where we try and force a turnover — a circuit of drills that we do — and Pres saw the opportunity and ripped it out,” said Lawrence head coach John Hersom. “We took the game back over even after we let up the score on that last play. It’s a good character sign.”
Colton Carter (17 carries, 145 yards, three touchdowns) and Roy (14 carries, 86 yards) led the way on the ground for Lawrence, and Michael Hamlin completed 6 of 7 passes for 122 yards. Tatum Doucette completed 10 of 22 for 117 yards and a touchdown and ran the ball 11 times for 177 yards and a score for Messalonskee.
After both teams came up empty to begin the game, Lawrence (3-2) went on a 72-yard drive led by Carter and Roy that culminated with the former scoring on a 1-yard run with 3:32 left in the first quarter. Messalonskee answered on a 5-yard scamper from Doucette early in the second to make it 7-7.
Carter then scored from 16 yards out for the Bulldogs with 9:44 left in the half, and after forcing a three-and-out, Lawrence made it 21-7 with 6:57 left on an 8-yard run by Dustan Hunter-Bellows. This time, though, the Eagles hit back as Doucette tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Drake Brunelle with 2:43 left in the half.
“I think we really showed a lot of fight,” said Messalonskee head coach Blair Doucette. “I think (defensively) we’ve probably got to be a little more like Lawrence and be more disciplined and stick to our responsibilities. We made some plays, but they did a really good job of that tonight.”
Lawrence answered in less than two minutes as Hunter-Bellows scored from 3 yards out with just 57 seconds remaining. Yet a big kick return set up good field position for Messalonskee (2-3), which capitalized with an 11-yard score from Doucette with one second left in the half to cut it to 29-21.
It seemed that would give Messalonskee a jolt heading into the second half. Instead, as Lawrence kicked away, Roy made the play that changed everything.
“I saw it loose, and I just freaking stripped the ball, and just ran,” Roy said of his strip-and-score. “Everyone was up, and we had all the momentum.”
Messalonskee looked to have something cooking on the next drive but Lawrence delivered another momentum swing. After stopping the Eagles on fourth-and-goal from the 4, the Bulldogs capped off a 10-play, 96-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hamlin to Roy with 2:34 left in the third.
Doucette threw a 28-yard pass to Malachi Cusano with one second left in the third to make it 42-28, but Carter answered with a 16-yard touchdown with 8:45 left to play. The Eagles then waived the white flag with a punt with just over four minutes to go before the Bulldogs kneeled out the clock.
Although Lawrence’s ground game (314 yards) provided the bulk of the yardage, Hamlin’s arm was also a big factor. The senior quarterback was key to the Bulldogs sustaining possessions, completing one pass of 15 yards or more on four of the Bulldogs’ touchdown drives.
“We have great weapons, and our line’s giving us enough time to throw,” Hamlin said. “I’m going through my reads, I’m seeing it, and we have great receivers that are getting open. … Our line has been awesome. Every time we’ve challenged them, they’ve come back and responded.”
The game was a clash between mentor and apprentice with Doucette having played for Hersom when the latter was at Messalonskee in the mid-1990s. Hersom’s Bulldogs handed Doucette his first Class B North loss in the form of a 41-6 Lawrence win last year, and on Friday night, he bested his apprentice again.
“They’re well-coached, and they’ve got good athletes,” Hersom said of Messalonskee. “They fought us tonight; I didn’t see any giving up on that side. I think Blair is here to stay, and he’ll keep on doing a great job.”
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