Spaulding football outlasts Dover to win in three overtimes

DOVER - During the week, Spaulding High School football coach Kevin Hebert implemented a hook-and-lateral into his play possibilities. The questions were if - and when - he’d use it?

On Friday night, the answer against rival Dover was, when he had nothing left lose.

The 124th edition of the state’s oldest rivalry reached a tipping point for the Red Raiders, trailing Dover 21-14, facing a fourth-and-goal from the 15-yard line in the second overtime.

Spaulding quarterback Logan Gadbois found Garrett Langis, who lateraled it to Ryan Lane to finish the final four yards for the touchdown and tie the game at 21-21. Spaulding kicker Ryan Bernier booted a 25-yard in the third overtime, and junior Max Frost made his second overtime interception to preserve the memorable 24-21 win for the Red Raiders in Division I action.

The Red Raiders snapped Dover’s four-game wining streak in the rivalry, as Dover now leads the all-time series 68-48, with eight ties

“We were down to our last chance and we’d been running it all week. It’s one of those situations as a coach where you’ll look like a real genius or look like a real fool,” Hebert said. “I had a good feeling about it, they had a good feeling about it, and they said ‘Coach, we got it,' and they executed the play. That’s obviously what we needed to win the game.”

Spaulding (2-3) was stopped on fourth down on the 3 in the first overtime, but Frost intercepted Dover sophomore quarterback Darien Lopez on the ensuing drive.

Dover (1-4) got the ball first in the second overtime, and Lopez immediately shook of the interception by finding Conner Sheehan on the first play for a 10-yard touchdown pass to give Dover a 21-14 lead. Lopez completed 12 of 25 passes for 163 yards on the night with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Darien made some really great throws in the second half and we were able to put some points on the board after being shut out in the first half,” Dover coach Eric Cumba said. “That play to start the second overtime came from kids coming over and telling me what they saw. We attacked it and Darien threw a great pass.”

Spaulding’s ensuing drive didn’t start with much hope, after a false start and two negligible plays left the Red Raiders with fourth down at the 15. That’s when Hebert’s gamble paid off.

“We practiced it all week, so we were finally excited we were able to do it. This was such a great atmosphere, we when he called it, we said ‘we got this,'” Langis said. “I ran the curl, Logan threw a great pass, I saw Ryan coming, and it worked out great. Right when I caught, I saw him coming and I said ‘take it from me.'”

“We were down and Garrett was saying ‘Coach run the hook and lateral,'” Lane said. “It was great pass from Logan, a great catch from Garrett. I don’t think we could’ve run it any better.”

Spaulding began the third overtime with the ball, but was stopped on third down at the 5. Hebert elected to have Bernier attempt - and bury - the 25-yard field goal to give Spaulding a 24-21 lead.

“Ryan made an unbelievable kick right there,” Hebert said. “Some coaches wouldn’t march him out there in that spot. He’s left-footed, a toe-kicker, but he nailed it.”

Lopez began Dover’s next drive with two incompletions, before Frost stepped in front of his next pass for his second overtime interception in his second varsity start.

“This feels great. I didn’t start the season in this position, but I just worked my way up, Frost said. ”I was kind of manned up (on the last play) and I was free, and I saw a screen on my side, I picked it up and just read it. I was in the moment; I didn’t know what was really going on.”

Spaulding took a 7-0 lead when Gadbois (5 of 14, 72 yards, two touchdowns, interception) found Langis for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 7:06 left in the first quarter.

Dover finally got on the scoreboard after it recovered a Gadbois fumble on Spaulding’s opening drive of third quarter. Perez eventually found Finn Wingren (seven catches, 89 yards) for a 17-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:51 left in the third quarter.

Langis (98 scrimmage yards) scored his second touchdown on a 7-yard run with seven seconds left in the third to give Spaulding a 14-7 lead entering the fourth. Dom Sprague capped off a 12-play, 81-yard Dover drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:32 left in regulation.

Spaulding hosts Exeter (3-1) next Friday, while Dover travels to Portsmouth-Oyster River (3-2).

“It was by far, most of the funnest games I’ve ever been a part of,” Hebert said. “For these 20 seniors, this is a game that they’ll remember play after play, in their heads, for the rest of their lives. This was just a real fun game to be a part of.”