Lebanon
Rainey, a Raiders junior, ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns, handled point-after and kickoff chores, intercepted a pass and was in on myriad tackles. Stone, a freshman, saw considerable time at receiver and defensive back, caught a 44-yard touchdown pass and returned a punt 75 yards for a score.
A 7-7 tie with five seconds remaining in the first half became 14-7 at intermission. Jon Willeman threw to Stone, who caught the ball short of the goal line and still had 10 yards to cover after the horn sounded.
Newport received the second-half kickoff but punted after six plays, leading to Stone’s successful return. Now down, 21-7, two minutes into the third quarter, the Tigers ran two plays before Rainey intercepted a Joey Ackerman pass. Rainey ran 4 yards for a touchdown three plays later and kicked the extra point for a 28-7 lead.
Newport turned the ball over on downs after three more minutes, and Lebanon’s next snap turned into a 61-yard touchdown for Rainey. The son of Dartmouth College women’s soccer coach Ron Rainey clanged the point-after attempt off the right upright, one of the only down notes all night for No. 22 and his team.
“Last year, we needed help on the offensive line, and (Rainey) played center,” said Lebanon coach Chris Childs, whose team dropped down from Division II after last season. “He’s a great leader and a hard worker, and he makes sure everybody is lined up right. He’s a coach out there for us.”
The result spoiled the debut of Newport’s Dennis Borcuk Jr., a longtime assistant promoted to head coach over the summer. The Tigers’ boss said his team’s mistakes can be fixed and that his players are still adjusting to a new offensive scheme.
“We’re three weeks into this and we’re young,” said the coach, whose squad features only six seniors. “We’re going to make mistakes and learn from mistakes.”
Lebanon piled up 211 yards rushing and Willeman completed four of 10 passes for 107 yards, all in the first half. The Raiders committed seven penalties for 65 yards and recovered their two fumbles. Receiver Brad Plodzik bobbled away what was about to be a 62-yard touchdown play early in the second quarter, the ball bouncing ahead of him and out of the end zone for a touchback.
Lebanon’s Ryan Sullivan carried seven times for 40 yards. The track sprinter overcame earlier carries for a cumulative loss when he broke away for a 43-yard touchdown run. It put his team up, 40-7, with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“He had an ankle injury last year that kept getting banged up, and he was never right,” Childs said of the senior. “He’s got speed you can’t teach.”
Newport’s Jagger Lovely carried 17 times for 32 yards, and Ackerman completed six of 13 passes for 41 yards and had one toss intercepted. The Tigers’ score came on Joshua Sharron’s 11-yard run with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first half. That play and Marius Edwards’ extra point pulled the visitors into a 7-7 tie.
“They brought defensive pressure on us early, and our linemen were kind of freaking out,” Childs said. “We settled them down at halftime. We had no turnovers and I think that was the difference.”
Newport, which rushed for 58 yards, hosts Stevens next week while Lebanon visits Trinity at Manchester’s Gill Stadium.
Notes: The Tigers lost two of their three fumbles. … Lebanon freshman running back and linebacker C.J. Childs, the coach’s son, played on special teams and got into the game on both sides of the ball during the fourth quarter. He wears No. 33, as his father did for the Raiders during the early 1990s. … Jack Stone is also the son of a former Lebanon gridiron standout, onetime Raiders lineman Derek Stone, who is now one of the team’s assistant coaches. … Coastal Carolina’s football team, for which former Newport coach Larry McElreavy is an offensive analyst, opens its season today at South Carolina.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.