By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Although his Raider football team brought home the Pleasant Mountain Cup for the ninth straight year with a 26-0 victory over rival Lake Region Friday night, Coach David Turner was quick to say his team had survived a dog fight.

“I think they were more physical than us the whole game. From the beginning, they were physical up front. They were attacking the perimeter, and we weren’t doing a great job of filling and keeping everything inside,” Coach Turner said. “We just didn’t do a good job of defending. Lake Region came out playing fast and physical and we didn’t match it.”

Raider senior quarterback Calvin Southwick, however, did work his magic. He rushed for two touchdowns and connected twice through the air with senior wideout Dawson Jones to lead Fryeburg to victory at Art Kilborn Athletic Complex in the regular season finale for both teams.

“We knew they (Lake Region) were going to come out hungry as they try to get a good playoff spot,” Southwick said.

Indeed, the Lakers made an early statement by beating the Raiders both inside the tackles and to the outside. LR nearly used up all of the clock in the first quarter, marching from their own 35 to the FA-7 with senior quarterback Ethan McMurray leading the way. His quickness around the corner resulted in runs of 6, 11 and 7 for first downs. Good seal blocks on the corner frequently came from Brent Massey, Michael Ross and Brandon Sargent.

“We executed our game plan. We went out and we’re physical. We created space on the edge and Ethan was a dynamic runner,” Laker Coach Mike Shea said.

Using a heavy dose of run plays was partly out of necessity. The Lakers’ prime aerial threat, senior Isaac Holland, sustained an ankle injury on Wednesday, which seriously altered Shea’s game plan.

“It made us one dimensional and not stretch the field,” Coach Shea said. “We have a tough time in the passing game with the receivers that we had playing.”

Inside the red zone, the Raider defense stiffened. At the FA-5, McMurray was tossed for a nine-yard loss on a stop by Southwick and Bobby Hallam. McMurray zipped a pass to Isaac Rawson, who made a quick cut inside for a seven-yard gain before being stopped in his tracks by FA’s heavy hitter, linebacker Jack Campbell.

On fourth down, McMurray attempted a fade pass, but Raider junior Isaak McKenney high pointed the throw for an interception in the end zone.

“We could not execute against Fryeburg’s front in the red zone. They’re a smart football team and they adjusted well to what worked for us,” Coach Shea said. “They took away Ethan on the outside. Up front, they were extremely strong.”

Two penalties prevented the Raiders from digging out of the hole, but Campbell’s strong punt moved the ball out to the FA-41. There, the FA defense started to make a statement. On third down, a LR run went for zip as Gabe Rogers and Eli Mahan made big sticks. LR Coach Shea gambled on fourth-and-three, seeing McMurray unable to beat the FA defense around the corner as Hallam and end Charlie Stokes made the stop for a three-yard loss.

“Isaac Holland was our punter also. I didn’t think that our punt would change the field position significantly to affect us positively on defense,” said Coach Shea on deciding twice to go for it on fourth down.

With a short field, FA finally got on the board. Southwick opened up the six-play drive with a crisp 12-yard completion to McKenney. Then, FA dialed up its run game with Southwick gaining 8, Bryce Micklon rushed for 10 and Southwick scored from 19 yards out. Eddie Thurston added the extra point with 6:47 left until halftime.

FA went up 13-0 when Southwick spotted Dawson Jones all alone behind the Laker secondary for a 42-yard TD strike with 1:52 left. Southwick kept the drive alive by avoiding a sack on a big third down call, squirting free for eight yards before Laker Michael Ross made the tackle.

Thurston’s boot was off the mark.

With 1:21 left until halftime, Shea rolled the dice a second time as his club faced a fourth down and three yards to go at the LR-35. McMurray tried to pass, but FA linebacker Jack Campbell (eight tackles on the night) brought the heat to force an incompletion.

The Raiders pounced on the opportunity as Southwick found Jones alone down the sideline for a 35-yard TD with 1:13 left on the clock. A 2-point pass try was deflected by Laker senior Nick Hall.

FA 19-0.

“When we came out, we saw they were in press coverage, and we have some fast guys. We knew we could beat them off the snap. I just took a chance going to my guys,” Southwick said. “Being wide open, Coach Turner is always harping on me to just put the football on them.”

Southwick admitted that it’s been a learning process making the shift from running back to quarterback this season.

“Last year, I had it easy. I had an amazing offensive line and quarterback. This year, I had to take on a leadership role. Oscar (Saunders, FA’s quarterback last year), I never gave him enough credit. That kid played the game like no other. I’m just trying to play like him and lead this offense,” Southwick said.

The Raiders nearly had another chance to put more points on the board when McKenney made an acrobatic — or more like an Odell Beckham Jr. style one-handed snag on the sideline for an interception with under a minute left.

“That’s his thing. He practices the one-handed catch maybe too much. That was a great play,” Southwick noted.

Campbell added, “He’s the playmaker.”

The same could be said for Campbell, who has been the defense’s quarterback this season. He credits his success to having spent a lot of time learning from last year’s stalwart linebackers Tucker Buzzell and Reese Kneissler.

“What I learned from the guys last year — just hard work. I saw Tucker and Reese every day, they just worked hard, stayed focused and were intense. I really learned how to be a leader. I looked up to them so much. I think I’ve become a better leader because of them,” Campbell said.

LR’s defense answered the challenge as Brandon Sargent made a stop for a four-yard loss, FA was hit with a personal foul penalty (15 yards) and Brent Massey broke up a deep pass by Southwick to target Armel Maloji.

Both defenses were stingy in the second half as the Raiders scored the only points with 4:37 left in the third quarter as Southwick surged right looking to pick up a yard on fourth down to keep the drive moving, but instead, found some daylight to the outside and beat two LR defenders for a 28-yard TD.

“The offensive line (Mahan, Ethan Burk, Thurston, Campbell, Stokes and Jackson Witchley) got really good push. My plan was just get up in there and get the first down. Whatever happens after that happens,” he said.

“Those long pass plays (earlier) certainly helped to open up our offense. We had a hard time running the ball up inside because again, they were playing really physical. They shut our run game down,” Coach Turner said. “Fortunately, we hit some big pass plays that resulted in points. Getting the lead, pushed them back a little bit in the second half, and it allowed us to run the ball a little bit more.”

Both teams leaned on their running games in the fourth quarter with only four passes being attempted — LR had three, one being intercepted by FA’s Dawson Jones.

Coach Shea credited Colby Chaplin (“he was stout up front and played a very physical game,” the coach said), Brandon Sargent and Ethan McMurray for bring physical play throughout the contest, as well as being sure tacklers. 

Now, Lake Region and Fryeburg face major tests this coming week in the first round of the Class C South playoffs.

The Lakers draw top-ranked Leavitt.

Fryeburg heads to third-ranked Wells.

“Wells is a great environment to play football in. We have to look at how we played them last week, and clean up every aspect. If we work hard this week in practice, we could have a chance,” Southwick said

Campbell agreed, “No doubt in my mind that if we play to our full potential, we have a shot.”

While last year’s playoff run to the state title game might help, both players admit keeping penalty yardage to a minimum will be a major key for the Raiders to overtake Wells.

“The state final experience could help. We had that experience and will look to use that to help our newer guys get ready this week. A lot of guys stepped up this year — Charlie (Stokes), Eli (Mahan), Dawson (Jones). We have to keep working and get everybody to step up and do their job. If we do that, we can play with anybody,” Southwick added. “We have to play all four quarters, which we’ve struggled with this season. We need to finish the game. If we play up to our potential we could be a really good team.”

Campbell believes the Raiders need to set the tone early. Most of all, he simply said, “We need to believe.”