FAIRFIELD — Defense was the name of the game for the Lawrence football team Friday night.
The Bulldogs forced four turnovers — two interceptions and two fumble recoveries — on the way to a 27-8 victory over Falmouth in a Class B North matchup at Keyes Field.
“It’s great to win,” said Lawrence running back/linebacker Colton Carter, who had a rushing touchdown and an interception on defense. “We worked our butts off to get here.”
It proved to be a huge advantage for the Bulldogs (1-1), who scored 21 off Navigators (0-2) turnovers.
“We had a pretty great effort tonight on defense,” Lawrence head coach John Hersom said. “We turned (Falmouth) away a few times, we’re very proud of the kids doing that. We’ve been working hard on defense to try to get it right.”
Carter, a junior, led the way on both sides of the ball for Lawrence. On offense, Carter had 69 rushing yards on seven carries. He rushed for a 7-yard touchdown to cap the Bulldogs’ first offensive possession of the game.
“We played good,” Carter said. “We really bounced back from last week (a 21-6 loss to Bangor), we really had a rough game. But we really bounced back from that and it’s great.”
Defensive back Cole Quirion added an interception for Lawrence.
Running back Gaige Martin also found the end zone for Lawrence, rushing for a 25-yard score up the middle to give the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. Martin had 49 rushing yards on six carries.
Lawrence quarterback Michael Hamlin proved to be efficient in the passing game, going 3 of 6 for 96 yards, with two touchdowns. He hit running back Gavin Wilson for a 51-yard strike for a 20-0 lead late in the first half. He then connected with wide receiver Dane Zawistwoski on a screen for a 31-yard score and a 27-0 lead in the third quarter.
“(Hamlin) can be a good asset for our offense, certainly,” Hersom said. “He has good throwing ability, running ability. We do rely heavily on the run game and spend a lot of time on that. We feel a strong run game can certainly open up the passing game. Some of those passes completed for us were big plays.”
Falmouth found some offensive success on its final drive of the game, marching 76 yards for a touchdown. Most of the plays involved direct snaps to running back Indi Backman, who capped with drive with a 1-yard scoring run and two-point conversion for the final 27-8 score. Backman rushed for 127 yards on 27 carries.
“At halftime, I said, ‘look, it’s about getting incrementally better,’” Falmouth head coach John Fitzsimmons. “I said, ‘let’s go out and pick your heads up in the second half.’ They did a very good job of that.”
Lawrence had 269 offensive yards, while Falmouth had 261.
The game, originally set for a 7 p.m. kickoff, was delayed 30 minutes because of weather.
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