BOW, N.H. — The Lebanon Raiders traveled to Bow looking for respect. And they earned it.
The Lebanon High football team, newcomers to NHIAA Division II, used speed to its advantage and the defense caused three turnovers and scored a touchdown and a safety to lead the Raiders (6-0) to a 30-6 victory over the perennial powerhouse Falcons (4-1) in Saturday’s state quarterfinal.
Lebanon will play Plymouth in next Saturday’s semifinals.
“I was a little worried up front maybe that they might be a little bigger than us,” Lebanon head coach Chris Childs said, “but like I’ve said all year long, our linebackers get after it and they scrape to the ball. It’s tough to defend that when you’ve got four guys that are really fast and they get after it. That definitely played into our hands today.”
All-state junior quarterback Jack Stone (7-for-13, 65 passing yards, 55 rush yards on 10 carries) ran in an 8-yard touchdown in the game’s first drive, and the Raiders’ defense had a huge play when junior linebacker and captain C.J. Childs stripped Bow quarterback Alex Boisvert of the ball and returned the fumble 52 yards for a 13-0 halftime lead.
“It wasn’t as much blitzing and getting through the holes,” said C.J. Childs, who also ran for 29 yards on six carries and caught two passes for 41 yards. “We were blitzing and getting hit by the (Bow) linemen, but they weren’t able to create the holes. So (Bow’s) running backs couldn’t come straight for us, they had to bounce around, and our defensive ends collapsed in.”
The Falcons struggled to move the ball offensively, especially in the second half, and were pinned on their own 5-yard line early in the second half.
Bow lost another battle in the war of size vs. speed when Stone’s safety gave Lebanon a 15-0 lead and possession of the ball.
Junior running back Cole Shambo (31 yards on 13 carries, sack on defense) scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, and fellow junior Justin DeCarlo caught a two-point conversion from Stone for a 23-0 lead with 5:59 left in the third quarter.
Sophomore linebacker Hollis Jones (five tackles for loss) intercepted a Stone pass to give Bow some life late in the third quarter, but on the next play Raider defensive back Jacob Hibner hit Falcon sophomore receiver Logan Gordon after a nice catch, forcing a fumble.
DeCarlo recovered the fumble and also had an interception midway through the fourth quarter.
“I would definitely say they’re the fastest team we’ve faced this year,” Bow head coach Paul Cohen said. “We knew they had a very varied and amorphous stunt package, and clearly that showed. We did not pick up people we needed to pick up. They made our quarterback’s life very difficult today. Without a doubt.”
“Defensively, the kids have really bought into that defense is going to get us where we need to go,” coach Childs said. “It was a great job today by them. We hadn’t given up any turnovers; that was our first one when Jack threw that interception today. We’ve been in the positive of that turnover battle, for sure.”
Stone scored on a 40-yard run and sophomore Tanner Ames connected on his second kick of the day to give Lebanon a 30-0 lead with 7:25 left.
Senior Calvin Bates (two catches for 41 yards), junior Nyeoti Punni (23 yards on five carries) and junior Connor Brown (sack) also led the Raiders.
Boisvert (8-for-22, 61 passing yards) connected with senior tight end Matt Cardarelli (two catches for 45 yards) on a 16-yard pass to put Bow on the board with 4:59 left in the game.
Gordon (three receptions, good kick returns) and seniors Andrew Bliss (five rushes for 26 yards), Andrew Robbins (six rushes for 22 yards), Cooper Larrabee (two tackles for loss, good coverage in secondary) and Shaun Lover (punter) also played well for Bow.
“I wasn’t surprised. We knew what this team could do,” Cohen said. “We’d seen them; we studied film. I thought that we prepared very well for this week, but clearly that didn’t show today. They played better than we did. I said to my team all week, ‘Football is unforgiving. In playoff football, even more so.’ You can’t make mistakes and expect to win. That came back to haunt us today; there’s no question. They just executed better than we did.”
“We were actually picked to lose this game,” Childs said, “so we took that as we need to gain some respect in the league. With a 30-6 win, I think we gained some respect and spread the word that we’re coming.”
Next up for Lebanon is another D-II powerhouse, the Plymouth Bobcats (6-0), who defeated Kennett, 14-6, on Saturday.
As for the Falcons, the program can celebrate an undefeated regular season and eighth consecutive playoff appearance.
“I said to the team when the game ended, ‘You guys defied the odds this year,’ ” said Cohen. “We didn’t even know if we were going to have a season … We got to play in another playoff year. … My seniors, they’ve done it four years in a row.”
“We’re sad now, but I know in a week or so, we’re going to be looking back saying it was a good season,” said Bow senior center and linebacker Justin Filteau. “Wishing we could have gone forward, but I think we did a good job this year.”