LEBANON — Wade Rainey carried 17 times for 108 yards and a touchdown and Jon Willeman completed 8 of 12 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns and the Lebanon High football team beat visiting Trinity, 21-7, on Friday in an NHIAA Division III game.
The Raiders led, 21-0, at the half, boosting their lead on Willeman’s 38-yard scoring strike to Caleb Smith. The ball appeared to go through or off the hands of a Pioneer defensive back before the senior tight end clutched it to his midsection and fell across the goal line. Rainey’s third successful extra-point attempt closed the hosts’ scoring.
“They were stuffing us a little bit on the run so we spread the ball around and then we settled down,” said Lebanon coach Chris Childs, whose 2-0 team visits defending state champion Monadnock next week for a 6:30 p.m. start. “Caleb made a great catch. I think the ball bent the other kid’s fingers back, but Caleb watched it all the way in.”
Rainey ran 1 yard for a touchdown and put the Raiders up, 7-0, with 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The senior ran 10 yards for another score two minutes before intermission and the hosts’ defense forced a punt and took over at the Pioneers’ 42-yard line with 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Trinity senior John Thibault, a former Newport High star, ran 15 times for 67 yards and a 2-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter.
Trinity drove to the Lebanon 3-yard line with six minutes remaining but lost a fumble and Rainey carried four times for a combined 26 yards during the Raiders’ next five plays to seal the victory.
“Our kids wore down a bit in the third quarter and if (Trinity) had scored there, it would have made it interesting,” Childs said. “For us to buckle down defensively was fitting, because that’s what we did all night. Our front four did a really nice job.”
Smith caught three passes for 19 yards and a touchdown and was a consistent force at defensive end.
Phillip Mellish ran nine times for 13 yards.
The Pioneers gained 98 yards rushing and 39 passing while surrendering 136 yards on the ground.