CLAREMONT — The unbeaten Stevens High Cardinals picked up their third win of the season in a mostly dominant performance against a NHIAA Division III West foe in the Kearsarge Regional High Cougars (0-3), 35-20, at Barnes Park on Friday night.
Juniors Karter Thyne and Tyson DiPaola led the way for the Cardinals, each notching a touchdown on the ground and another through the air from the arm of junior quarterback Johnny Frisbee. Junior Carter Bastian also scored a rushing touchdown.
The Cardinals flew out of the box to begin the game, taking advantage of a Cougars’ personal foul penalty on the opening kickoff, giving them prime field position in the opposition’s territory.
Stevens’ first drive of the game ended in just three plays with Thyne’s rushing touchdown from 15 yards out.
Stevens picked up right where it left off on its second drive, scoring on a direct snap to Bastian from 11 yards out. A successful two-point conversion attempt increased the lead to 14-0.
The Stevens’ onslaught continued into the second quarter. After a two-yard rushing touchdown from DiPaola and a 35-yard touchdown reception from Thyne, along with a two-point conversion and extra point, the Cardinals led 29-0 with more than seven minutes left before halftime.
With such a substantial lead early, human nature seemed to kick in, and the Cardinals seemed to let up. “I think we played to the score a little bit,” Stevens Head Coach Josh Duford said. “We need to worry about the process and not the end result sometimes.”
In the waning minutes of the first half, Kearsarge turned to trickery when junior Aidan Ruckman took a handoff from senior quarterback Kaleb Naughton and came up throwing, heaving a prayer that was caught near the Cardinals’ goal line.
The Cougars scored two plays later on a nice grab from Ruckman in the left corner of the end zone from six yards out. After a successful extra point, the Cardinals’ lead shrank to 29-7.
But the Cardinals woke up in the third quarter. After stopping Kearsarge’s opening drive of the half, Stevens proceeded to march down the field, scoring on DiPaola’s 26-yard reception for a 35-7 advantage.
Kearsarge scored two touchdowns in the game’s final six minutes to account for the final 15-point margin.
“We were happy to get the win, but not pleased with the way the second half went down,” Duford said.
“I hope this is a wake-up call,” he added. “We need to worry about execution, not playing to any sort of score.”
Stevens now heads into a bye week before hosting Lebanon on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.
“It’s always good to be 3-0,” Duford said. “I tried to talk to the kids that we’ve got a long way to go. The schedule continues to get tougher as we go, so we can’t rest on our laurels.”