LEWISTON — Lewiston went into Friday night’s battle of unbeatens with Lawrence hoping to make a statement that it belonged with one of the Pine Tree Conference’s dominant teams of the last several years.

The Bulldogs waited until the second half to make their statement, but it was emphatic: Not yet.

Lawrence dominated the second half, outscoring Lewiston 18-0 and sending the Blue Devils to the loss column for the first time this year in a 25-6 decision at Don Roux Field.

Blair Blaisdell rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown while Lawrence (6-0) outgained Lewiston, 221-2 in the second half.

“The coaches just told us what we needed to do on defense,” Blaisdell said. “The linebackers weren’t reading right, so we fixed that. We knew our offense was there.”

Lawrence broke open a 7-6 game at the half by scoring all three times it had the ball in the third quarter. Sophomore quarterback Spencer Carey got the offense going by completing all four of his pass attempts in the second half for 97 yards.

“The adjustment they made coming out and throwing the ball (was important),” County said. “We kind of challenged them a little bit and played man coverage and stacking eight people in the box. We thought we could hold up if he threw the ball and we couldn’t.”

“(Carey) throws pretty accurate. He’s just starting to get comfortable throwing the ball in games,” Lawrence coach John Hersom said. “It’s been a process, him getting comfortable throwing.”

Carey looked comfortable on Lawrence’s first series of the third quarter, throwing a 16-yard completion to Bryant Wade, then finding Matt Yandian on a flair pass in the backfield which Yandian turned into a 32-yard gain. Two plays after an 18-yard run by Blaisdell, Shaun Carroll scored from seven yards out to make it 13-6.

The Blue Devils (5-1) helped the Bulldogs move the chains on their next possession, picking up pass interference, facemask and unnecessary roughness penalties on three straight plays to move Lawrence to the Devils’ 16. A holding penalty momentarily pushed the Bulldogs back to the 26, but Carey 6-for-8, 114 yards) connected with Wade on a quick slant over the middle to advance to the 5. Blaisdell punched it in from there and it was 19-6.

A sack by Chris Doyon (three sacks) pinned the Devils deep in their own territory, forcing a punt which set the Bulldogs up at Lewiston’s 47 for their final scoring drive. Carey immediately completed a 26-yard pass to Yandian (four catches, 77 yards), then scored on a 2-yard keeper with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

With the starters in, Lawrence’s defense held Lewiston without a first down and to -5 net yards in the second half. The Blue Devils’ only first down came on a penalty with the reserves in late in the game.

“We knew they were a very fast team,” Blaisdell said. “We knew they had a great perimeter and we just wanted to shut that down.”

Lewiston moved the ball on two long drives in the second quarter. Their lone scoring drive was an 11-play, 88-yard march highlighted by a 24-yard run by Joe McKinnon (10 carries, 35 yards), two fourth down conversions and an 11-yard touchdown run by McKinnon with 6:53 to go in the half. Tom Hird’s extra point attempt was short, keeping Lawrence in the lead, 7-6.

Lawrence threatened on its next possession. Blaisdell broke a 50-yard run and would have gone all the way if Matt Therrien didn’t chase him down from behind at the 16. Three plays later, Lewiston’s Rudy Pandora recovered a bad snap at the 24.

The Blue Devils put together another impressive drive from there, methodically moving down to the Lawrence 8, where they had 1st-and-goal. But with time running out and no timeouts, an incomplete pass, an intentional grounding penalty and an eight-yard run by Jeff Keene forced the Devils to scramble to get a fourth-down play off before the horn. Chris Madden’s throw into a crowded right corner of the end zone was batted down by the Bulldogs.

“We were out of timeouts,” County said. “I thought we did a good job managing the clock, getting down there and getting that play off. You know, you come up one play short. It would have been nice to stick that in and have the lead at halftime.”

“That was a big stop before half, so we have some momentum, let’s use it,” Hersom said. “The kids thought about that and really came out in the third quarter and started making those plays.”

Lewiston struggled to move the ball in the first quarter, and a blocked punt by Lawrence’s Chris Bartsch gave the Bulldogs a big advantage in early field position. The Devils’ defense withstood Lawrence’s initial possession after the block, but another three-and-out by the offense gave the Bulldogs the ball at Lewiston’s 24. Carroll’s 19-yard touchdown run on second down made it 7-0.

Copy the Story Link