YARMOUTH — Three plays in a row, Yarmouth tried to run the ball into the end zone for a tying touchdown Friday night after getting first-and-goal at the Wells 2.

Three times, the Clippers were stuffed by a stout Wells defense.

On fourth down, however, Yarmouth quarterback John Thoma dropped back to pass and hit freshman wide receiver Noah Eckersley-Ray on a slant for the touchdown with about three minutes remaining. Yarmouth then converted the extra point and held on for a 16-15 win in a Class C South game at Winslow Field.

Yarmouth improved to 5-0, while Wells dropped to 3-2.

“We knew this would be a battle. They’ve beaten us every time we’ve played them and we knew it would be a tough game coming in,” said Yarmouth Coach Jason Veilleux.

“Sixteen-15, somebody has to win, somebody has to lose,” said Wells Coach Tim Roche.

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Last year against Wells, Yarmouth was trailing by seven when Thoma, then a sophomore, attempted a fake punt from his own 5-yard line. The pass fell incomplete and led to the Warriors’ clinching touchdown.

“(Thoma) has really matured. He’s been there right from the very beginning,” said Veilleux. “He’s still a young quarterback, has a lot to learn, but he steps up big when he has to.”

Turnovers played a major role in this game. The winning score was setup by a fumble recovery on the first play of a Wells drive with 6:14 remaining.

“It was our mistakes that made them win the game,” said Roche. “They couldn’t drive the ball. They have the most high-powered offense in the league and they couldn’t drive on us. I was like, ‘that’s awesome,’ we did a good job. We just have to cut back on the mistakes that we make.”

Yarmouth, which was averaging 40 points per game, managed less than 200 total yards.

The Clippers opened the scoring on an interception return in the first quarter by Cody Cook. Cook picked off a pass from Owen Berry and returned it 68 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked.

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“We still have plenty of things to clean up. We have a tough road ahead of us, but we’re happy with this win. We’ll take it,” said Veilleux.

Wells took a 7-6 lead just before halftime on running back Evan Whitten’s 2-yard run.

Whitten finished with 102 yards rushing.

Yarmouth reclaimed the lead less than five minutes into the second half on a 44-yard field goal by Andrew Beatty.

“That was a game-changer. It was a great kick,” said Veilleux.

Wells moved ahead again with 58 seconds left in the third quarter on a 4-yard run by Riley Dempsey. The Warriors added the 2-point conversion on a pass from Berry to Nick Hansen to take a 15-9 lead.

In addition to his interception return, Cook rushed for 52 yards.

Thoma was 9 of 14 passing for 101 yards.


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