DURHAM – It was seven games into the regular season before the Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough football team surrendered 40 points on defense. On Saturday, it took Stevens just three quarters.
Still walking on clouds from their stunning upset over top-seeded Monadnock in the semifinals, the Cardinals rolled into UNH for the Division III championship at the new Wildcat Stadium and shocked yet another crowd, turning a 14-8 second-quarter deficit on its head with 32 unanswered points as to snap a 27-year title drought with a 46-20 victory over the Lakers.
The championship was the first for Stevens since 1989 – and the first for the football program in almost 50 years – leaving Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough on the wrong end of a title game for the second straight season.
“It’s not unfair,” Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough Coach Jon Francis said of falling in back-to-back championships. “You got to earn it every step of the way. You can’t just get here and show up and that’s a lesson these guys still have yet to learn … Stevens wanted it more than us today and congratulations to them. It’s a huge win for them and unbelievable.”
Entering the game as the heavy favorites after serving Stevens a lopsided 57-12 loss during a regular-season game on Oct. 15, the Lakers couldn’t have asked for a better start. I-L/M drove 58 yards down the field on their opening possession and cashed in for six with a 3-yard touchdown run from junior Andrew Brothers.
But that offense and poise quickly disappeared.
After the Lakers pulled ahead 14-8 late in the second quarter on another short TD run for Brothers, Stevens rallied for a quick score – a 31-yard TD strike from sophomore Henri Bourque to Zachary O’Brien – just before the half and never looked back. The Cardinals went on to score 24 more points, keeping the lead throughout in a championship game that quickly escalated into a blowout.
“I just love these guys. They’ve done everything I’ve asked and answered every call,” Stevens Coach Paul Silva said, still standing in the corner of the end zone with his championship team behind him. “We lost two games on the year and beat both of them in the playoffs. … (The kids) deserve any accolades they get. It’s all on them.”
The Lakers offense, a unit that had been so explosive during the regular season and into the playoffs where they averaged 38 points per game, was instead ineffective for a majority of the afternoon. While Brothers had a pair of short touchdowns, the Cardinals limited him to just 46 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Ryan Kelly finished 15-for-25 with 250 yards and a touchdown, but he struggled to string plays together for consistent drives and the team as a whole committed nine penalties for 134 yards.
“We made mistakes, obviously, but Stevens just came out and played great,” said Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough’s Zach Swanson, who added six catches for 33 yards in the loss. “You have to give it to Stevens, they played great defensively, but at the same time, we should have been able to overcome that.”
The Cardinals, though, didn’t offer up much to aid an I-L/M comeback attempt. Clinging to a 16-14 lead entering the third quarter, Stevens’ Parker Smith put a handful of first-half drops behind him and took a short pass from Bourque, turned on the jets and out-ran everyone on the field for a 61-yard touchdown. He finished with nine catches for 150 yards and the score, gaining 91 yards in the second half alone.
On the Cardinals next drive – which followed a turnover on downs for the Lakers – Richard Bell (28 carries, 124 yards) punched in one of his three touchdowns on the day for a 32-14 lead and made way for O’Brien on the next possession, who powered in a TD from three yards out to put Stevens on top, 40-14.
“It gets frustrating. There’s really no corrections as a coach you can make,” Francis said of the Cardinals’ rushing attack. “If a player is not going to play the spots they’re supposed to play or play the positions correctly the way you teach it all week, there’s nothing you can do about that.
“They did whatever they wanted offensively against our defense,” Francis added.
I-L/M tried to stage a rally midway through the fourth when Kelly and Collin Sheehan linked up for a long 42-yard TD, but with the deficit still at 20 and no signs of the defense slowing down the Cardinals’ run game, the Lakers would have to settle for second place, yet again.
“The kids show up to play or they don’t,” Francis said. “Stevens wanted it more than us. They proved that and the score proved that.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3340 or at jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @jaymcaree.)