Litchfield, n.h.
A week ago, during Stevens High’s NHIAA Division III quarterfinal upset win over Somersworth, the Cardinals did not commit a turnover. Seven days later, however, the Cardinals handed the football back to No. 2 Campbell six times, allowing the Cougars to bring Stevens’ season to a screeching halt in a 33-0 semifinal defeat.
The most painful of the turnovers came in the third quarter of a game that was 6-0 at the half. Three turnovers and 12:05 later, it was 22-0 and the Cougars were on their way.
Still, losing to Campbell is something all the other Division III teams have been doing this fall. The Cougars improved to 10-0 even though the Cards (6-4) held Campbell to its fewest points of the season.
The Cougars also did their homework on stellar Stevens sophomore Keaghan McAllister, holding him to 45 yards on 12 carries. McAllister came into the game having rushed for 1,028 yards on 158 attempts with 13 touchdowns. The team’s second-leading rusher, junior Baylor Rozzell (66 carries, 390 yards) was injured and did not play.
When the Cardinals’ running game bogged down, they tried passing and were 5-for-13 for 67 yards with three Campbell interceptions. On the offensive side of the ball, the hosts ran 68 plays for 495 yards, while Stevens had 47 plays for 206 total yards.
Despite the one-sided score, Cougar coach Greg Gush was not surprised that the Cardinals hung tough for a long time.
“Those are tough kids over there,” said Gush of the Cardinals. “I bet a bunch of them are going to go home tonight and chop wood.”
There were moments in the first half when it looked like the sixth-seeded Cardinals might be making a run at a second consecutive upset. The game was scoreless deep into the second quarter with Stevens driving to the Campbell 21-yard line with two downs to play with. But two pass plays failed, and Campbell rebounded with a 14-play 79-yard march that sophomore Keegan Mills eventually capped from the 3 three with just 1:46 left before the half.
A lot happened in that final 1:46. Campbell tried an onside kick with Stevens smothering the ball on its 45. Stevens ran three running plays before Mills picked off a Quentin Bicknell pass on fourth-and-9. The Cougars tried an aerial on their first play, and McAllister snapped it out of the air for Stevens. The Cards fumbled the ball back to Campbell with 5 seconds to go. Campbell apparently thought enough was enough and took a knee.
The second half belonged to the Cougars, as they got a 37-yard touchdown run from Ryan Yanuszewski in the third quarter and an 11-yard tally from Nick Boucher to start the fourth. Then it was Mills from the 24 and Yanuszewski from the 20 to close out the scoring.
“ This hurts,” said Stevens linebacker-running back Joe Desilets.
Stevens coach Paul Silva reflected on the season that saw the defending champion Cardinals start at 2-2 and then win four of their next five.
“We did all right,” Silva said. “And you know what? I love these guys.”