There may well be folks who find it a cliché to say that in order for an athletic team to perform its best it must limit the mistakes it makes.
That cliché landed like a boulder on the youthful Londonderry High School varsity football squad in its 2015 home-opener against the undefeated Exeter High Blue Hawks at LHS Friday evening, Sept. 18.
Several “too many men on the field” penalties and a number of other mistakes ended up costing the now 1-2 Lancer team dearly in their 28-20 defeat to an Exeter crew that advanced to 3-0.
The game went down to the wire and the hosts still had chances to tie the score in the final seconds of play. But the locals weren’t able to make the clutch plays they needed to rebound from their eight-point deficit as time wound down.
But be that as it may, coach Jimmy Lauzon was a happy guy as he addressed the media following the contest, making it plain that his young team had turned a good week of practice in the days leading up to the home-opener into a performance that had numerous good points.
“It’s the first close game we’ve lost in a while. Going back to (Manchester) West, we won a lot of close ones,” lamented the LHS leader. “And it kind of feels like we gave this one away.”
“We had a good week of practice, and I gave them yesterday (Thursday, Sept. 17) off, knowing that this would be a tough, physical game. I wanted them to feel strong. I knew that, win or lose, it would be a tough game, and they came out and gave 150 percent tonight,” he said.
After falling behind 7-0 in the first three minutes of the game, the Lancers battled their way to leads of 14-7 early in quarter two and 20-15 by halftime.
But Exeter coach Bill Ball’s Blue Hawks bounced back with all 13 points scored in the second half and dodged a bunch of near-misses where Londonderry scoring was concerned.
The Lancers’ first-half success began when Dave Wiedenfeld capped off a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring run with 4:11 left in quarter number one to help evaporate the Blue Hawks’ early 7-0 lead.
The hosts then snared a 14-7 lead after Exeter botched the snap from center on a punt, and Londonderry began an offensive series on the Hawks’ 14. Moments later – with 10:58 left in the half – the locals were celebrating Wiedenfeld’s 1-yard scoring run.
But the Lancers’ lead slipped away in frustrating fashion as Exeter scored on a 26-yard scoring pass play and then had a missed point-after kick nullified by Londonderry’s first 12-man infraction. The Blue Hawks then tried a two-point conversion, which failed but drew a pass interference call on the hosts.
On its third try at capping off its touchdown toss, the visiting squad scored a two-point conversion to snare a 15-14 lead with 6:52 left in the half.
However, Londonderry answered quickly with a four-play drive that was capped off by Wiedenfeld’s third short scoring run – this time of two yards – and the score moved to 20-15 in the Lancers’ favor.
Londonderry had a chance to add to its lead during the final 4:25 of the half when it began a productive offensive series. But that drive fizzled on an interception by Exeter in its own end zone after the Lancers had gotten as far as the Blue Hawks’ nine.
The hosts finished the first half with 10 more offensive yards than their guests (172-162), and Wiedenfeld had compiled some rushing totals in the process. He had just 22 rushing yards but those three touchdowns on nine carries in the half.
The Blue Hawks regained the lead for good in the last seconds of quarter three by reeling off a 13-play drive that covered 55 yards and was given new life during a key fourth down situation when the Lancers were called for an illegal substitution, which handed Exeter a key first down. Ten plays later the visitors were celebrating a touchdown that gave them a 21-20 advantage.
During the harrowing fourth quarter, the Lancers received a big fumble recovery from Nick Scarfo, but handed the ball back on a pass interception on the next play.
Exeter bumped its lead up to 28-20 with a touchdown with 5:03 left in the fourth period, and the Lancers’ comeback efforts were stymied by their inability to make several clutch plays down the stretch.
The locals had great chances to score touchdowns in the back right corner of the Exeter end zone and then seconds later toward the front left corner of that end zone, but neither Jake Stevens pass was caught.
Exeter finished with 168 rushing yards and 121 passing yards for 289 total yards worth of offense on the night. The Lancers ended up with 110 rushing yards and 102 passing yards for a total of 212 on the evening.