CONTOOCOOK, N.H. — The Lebanon High football team roared to a 62-14 rout of NHIAA Division III rival Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton on Saturday despite trailing twice early in the game.
Tied, 14-14, at halftime, the Raiders (5-0) overwhelmed a foe to which it lost twice last season, the second setback coming during a playoff quarterfinal. The visitors used a diverse attack and a defense tweaked at intermission to produce 296 yards rushing and 83 passing while allowing the Redhawks 242 yards on the ground and just 11 through the air.
Lebanon’s Wade Rainey rushed 19 times for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and Jon Willeman completed five of 13 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. Caleb Smith caught a 13-yard touchdown and returned an interception 30 yards for another, and C.J. Childs returned another pickoff 27 yards for a score.
The Redhawks (4-1) fumbled five times, lost four of them and committed six penalties for 70 yards. Star running back Colby Quiet carried 24 times for 204 yards and touchdowns of 77 and 65 yards on consecutive offensive plays.
Lebanon coach Chris Childs, whose program has established itself as a midseason favorite to win its first state title since 2010, said a lost Rainey fumble on the second quarter’s initial play, followed by Quiet’s scoring runs, put his team in a hole.
“We were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot early and keeping them in the game,” said the coach, noting that botched defensive alignment and a missed tackle were partially responsible for HDH’s early scores. “But you start putting pressure on people, and they start turning the ball over.
“I thought the kids were a little flat to start, and we started playing faster and getting after it.”
Lebanon’s roster lists 40 players while the Redhawks’ has 34, but Chris Childs felt his team has more experienced depth and that it played a factor. HDH is built to run the ball and stage time-consuming drives, but the turnovers and penalties short-circuited that plan.
“We move different kids in and out for spread or running formations, and we have others who play special teams,” the coach said. “All that stuff pays dividends.”
Rainey’s fumble led to the game’s first points, Quiet running for the first of his long touchdowns three plays later. Lebanon answered with an 11-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Rainey touchdown. The senior also kicked the first of his five extra points.
Josh Roebuck sent the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, however, and Quiet scored again on the Redhawks’ next play from scrimmage. Again, Lebanon churned out a long march, traveling 84 yards in nine plays and creating a 14-14 tie on an 8-yard Rainey run and kick a minute before halftime.
The game’s turning point might have come three plays later when Smith intercepted a Mike Oberheim pass and returned it for a 21-14 lead.
Turnovers that directly create points “are momentum-killers, and that one was key,” Chris Childs said. “They ran a screen and Caleb takes it to the house, and that helped us overcome the fact that I didn’t think we played that well in the first half.”
Willeman put the Raiders up, 28-14, when he scrambled for a 67-yard touchdown, looking every bit the basketball guard he is during the winter while weaving his way to paydirt midway through the third quarter.
“It’s exciting to see different kids make different plays,” Chris Childs said. “There’s no doubt Jon can run the ball, and as people try to take our passing game away, he’ll have more running lanes.”
Two HDH returners attempted to flip the ball between them on the following kickoff but instead lost a fumble. Rainey ran four consecutive times for 18 yards, a 6-yard touchdown and a 34-14 lead. He booted the extra-point try wide.
Two plays later, C.J. Childs, the coach’s sophomore son, returned another interception for a touchdown, and Willeman threw a pass to Calvin Bates for a 2-point conversion and a 42-14 lead.
The game’s final touchdowns occurred during the fourth quarter. Willeman chucked a 13-yard pass to Smith, C.J. Childs ran 7 yards for a score and Logan Sanchez did likewise on a 20-yard jaunt. Roebuck sent the final extra-point try wide.
“We set the goal at the beginning of the year to get a home playoff game,” Chris Childs said. “It’s lame to say, but we really do take it one day, one week at a time and one game at a time. We try to keep the kids focused on this week and not looking at the big picture.”
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Notes: Lebanon played for a second consecutive week without sophomore tight end and safety Jackson Stone, who broke his leg against Monadnock. Chris Childs said there’s some hope No. 12 might rejoin the fray if his team can make a playoff run. … The Redhawks got creative upon realizing they had 12 players on the field during a Raider extra-point try. The 12th man simply scooted out of the back of the end zone. … Halle Drew, a 2017 Lebanon High graduate and onetime football manger and ice hockey goaltender, attended the game. She’s now studying nursing at Colby-Sawyer College. … The HDH field features no running water, and the scoreboard is powered by a generator. … A dozen French exchange students attended the game.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.