EXETER – It’s been a season of firsts for the Hillsboro-Deering-Hopkinton football team.

The Redhawks, in just their third year as a varsity program, were playing in Division III for the first time. After an impressive 6-3 regular season, they earned their first playoff berth. And on Saturday, the surging Redhawks collected their first playoff win, storming back in the second half to beat No. 5 Lebanon, 21-7.

What started as a club team almost a decade ago is now a program headed to the semifinals of the Division III tournament.

“Last year we paid our dues in Division II, we went in and had some fun and got a couple wins. And now we’re in Division III where we’re competitive, as you can see, with most of the teams,” Redhawks coach Jay Wood said.

“The only team we weren’t competitive with is who we have coming up next week. And I just told the kids that’s David and Goliath right there.”

That Goliath is top-seeded Monadnock, who beat No. 8 Somersworth, 46-0, on Saturday and handed the Redhawks a 46-6 defeat on Oct. 6. The two sides will meet in Swanzey on Nov. 10 for a semifinal showdown at 1 p.m.

“We’re playing football. The boys are playing pretty well right now,” Wood said. “We started to peak a few weeks ago and hopefully we can keep that going.”

But before Wood and the fourth-seeded Redhawks could shift their focus to what’s next, they had to figure out how to dig themselves out of a 7-0 halftime hole against the Raiders at Bill Ball Stadium.

Lebanon generated 148 yards of total offense in the first half and used the legs of junior running back Wade Rainey to score on a long 46-yard touchdown run with 3:27 to play in the second quarter. The Redhawks, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball at all. They had only 76 yards of offense, turned the ball over once and endured some untimely penalties that halted potential scoring drives.

And then, according to Wood, the team “woke up and started playing.”

Putting the first half far in the rear-view mirror, the Redhawks hit the gas.

After the two sides traded punts to open the third quarter, the Redhawks pieced together a nine-play scoring drive to tie the game at 7-all. Leaning on junior Colby Quiet, the Redhawks drove 60 yards down the field and capped it off with a fourth-down touchdown pass from senior captain Caleb Yianakopolos to Quiet from 8 yards out.

A fumble recovery to start the fourth quarter set the Redhawks up with a short field and Yianakopolos, converting on another fourth-down pass, hit Jack Horne on a seam route for a 23-yard touchdown strike for the 14-7 lead.

“They had to figure it out and do some talking on how we would handle the blocking,” Wood said of the offense. “(Lebanon) was pretty much in the sets we were practicing against, and that was it. (My players) just had to rise to the occasion and everybody did.”

Yianakopolos, who shook off an early interception and played smart down the stretch, felt it was only a matter of time before the offense got going.

“It’s kind of about just clicking and meshing together,” Yianakopolos said. “At the beginning, everyone was kind of doing their own thing. Once we start rolling and everyone’s on the same page and kind of rolling together, it worked out.”

Aside from throwing touchdowns, Yianakopolos was also a part of a fierce defense for the Redhawks. The team forced five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble) and blocked two punts on special teams.

Yianakopolos had two of those picks – both in the fourth quarter – with the final interception leading to Quiet’s 1-yard touchdown run late in the quarter to all but seal the victory. 

It was a win Yianakopolos and the Redhawks have been waiting a long time for.

“I’ve been waiting four years to make it to the playoffs in football,” Yianakopolos said. “Finally being here, I think our whole team has come together and bonded way tighter than we have before.”

(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)