Claremont
The win overshadowed a sensational effort by Kearsarge’s Justin Norris, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound junior who rushed for 211 yards in the first half and also had 92 yards in kick returns.
Norris, who was coming off an eight-touchdown game with more than 400 rushing yards last week against Newfound, was held to just 31 yards rushing in the second half.
“He’s certainly the best running back in our division,” said Stevens coach Paul Silva, who has his first 5-0 team in the six years he has been at the helm.
Silva said the defensive effort in the second half was a credit to defensive coordinator Erik Anderson. “He moved some people around, and it made the difference,” Silva said.
Stevens running back Richard Bell rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns, but he credited the second-half defense for the turnaround.
“We were soft in the first half, but crunched in the second half,” said Bell, who is a linebacker on defense.
With Monadnock’s 27-12 win over InterLakes-Moultonborough on Friday night the Stevens win unofficially moves the Cardinals into a tie for the top spot in the North Division with Monadnock, also 5-0. The Cardinals and Lakers (4-1) meet in two weeks in Meredith, following a bye week for all the D-III teams next weekend.
The game started as a slugfest, with 34 points scored in the first four minutes and 62 by the half. At one point, Stevens led, 22-12, but by the half Kearsarge (3-2) was in front, 32-30.
The game began to take a turn in Stevens’ favor with its first possession in the second half, and the Cards were 99 yards away as a Kearsarge punt rolled dead on the one.
But the Cardinals began gobbling up big chunks of yardage as quarterback Henri Bourque completed four passes, including a 12-yard scoring strike to Parker Smith that put Stevens in front for good at 36-32.
During the Cardinals’ first possession of the fourth quarter, the tiring Kearsarge defense wilted a little as Bell completed an 11-play drive with a burst from the 1-yard line. Bell also ran for the 2-point conversion to make it 44-32, which turned out to be the final.
The first quarter was like watching a tennis match as the ball moved up and down the field as if there were no defenders. Even though Kearsarge was very aware that Parker Smith is a likely college-bound receiver, the Cougars let him get in back of the defense on the first play from scrimmage. Bourque hit Smith on the fly and there was no catching him, as he blazed his way into the end zone from 65 yards. But that was just the beginning of five touchdowns in five consecutive possessions.
When Parker scored, just 14 seconds had gone off the clock. Eighty seconds later, Norris went 64 yards as once he found a crack, he was gone. The Cardinals came back as Bourque completed passes of 19 and 15 yards before Bell took it from the five to put Stevens up, 14-6. Fifteen seconds later, Norris took a lateral on the kickoff and went 78 yards. Then after Stevens brought the kickoff to the 24, Bell went 76 yards on the first play. The clock showed 8:04 in the first quarter and the score was 22-12.
There was actually an exchange of punts in the second quarter before Norris went 64 yards on a cutback, and shortly thereafter a 58-yard pass from Bryce Brown to Parker Pitts put Kearsage in front, 26-22.
There two more scores before the half, Bourque scoring on a rollout and Kearsage scoring on the last play of the period to put the Cougars up, 32-20.