High school football: Stevens pulls past Lebanon

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By DALTON BARTLETT

Valley News Correspondent

Published: 10-06-2024 8:16 PM

LEBANON — Saturday night saw a physical matchup between young Lebanon High and Stevens High teams that saw the Cardinals come away with a 29-14 win in an NHIAA Division III football game at Henry Emerton Memorial Field.

“It was a physical game and a little uglier than I hoped it would be,” Stevens head coach Josh Duford said afterward. “We made some mistakes early and kind of let them stay in the game and gain some confidence.”

After a scoreless first quarter, it would be Stevens to score first. On a fourth-down play, an eight-yard scamper from sophomore running back Carter Bastian gave the Cardinals the 7-0 lead going into the break.

Early in the second half, Stevens was lined up to punt from its own 12-yard line when a high snap went over junior punter Jharin Valcourt-Garrow’s head. He fell on the ball in the end zone, resulting in a safety that gave the Raiders life. Bad snaps plagued Stevens throughout the game and cost the Cardinals multiple chances to score.

After the subsequent free kick gave the Raiders the ball on their 46, Lebanon drove down the field in eight plays thanks to multiple runs from sophomore back Jordan Finley. That set up junior running back Nick Pace, who found the lane on the right side for the 20-yard touchdown. The extra point was missed, making it an 8-7 game for the hosts.

It would only take one play for Stevens to retake the lead.

After a false-start penalty, sophomore quarterback Johnny Frisbee found sophomore wide receiver Karter Thyne, who got a step on the secondary and took the ball to the end zone from 56 yards. Senior running back Zach Richardson made it 15-8 with a 2-point conversion.

On Lebanon’s next drive, after a big run by Pace, Stevens would get called for a personal foul penalty. This set up the Raiders to score as Finley found the end zone on a direct snap on fourth down from 3 yards out to make it a 15-14 game.

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Stevens then asserted itself with a 10-play drive that ended when Richardson found paydirt from 10 yards out, making it a 21-14 game after the missed 2-point conversion.

The Cardinals forced a Lebanon punt on the ensuing possession, and Bastian ripped off a 60-yard touchdown to seal the game.

Pace and Finley split the carries in the backfield for Lebanon, with Pace rushing for 48 yards on nine carries and a touchdown and Findley getting 36 yards on six carries and one score.

Bastian and Richardson led the way for Stevens, with Bastian rushing for 107 yards on twelve carries and two touchdowns. Richardson finished the game with 84 yards on 12 carries and a score.

Both teams showed their youth on the night, taking unnecessary penalties and turning the ball over multiple times, including three interceptions by Lebanon.

“This is a total rebuild of our program,” Lebanon’s head coach Doug Johnson said. “Last year we were playing JV, so the effort we got against a good football team tonight was everything we were trying to accomplish and a step on our journey to becoming a good football team.”

Lebanon (1-3) lost its opener against Monadnock, 40-0, prior to beating Fall Mountain, 19-0, in its home opener and losing at Newport last week, 44-0. Entering this season, Lebanon had three seniors on their roster.

The Raiders will head on the road to face Kearsarge on Friday before returning home Oct. 18 to face Campbell.

The Cardinals (3-1) — owners of wins over Fall Mountain (40-8) and Kearsarge (25-7) along with a 16-0 loss to rival Newport — host undefeated Monadnock (5-0) on Friday night at Barnes Park.