TOPSHAM — Noah Nelson passed for one touchdown and run for another in the fourth quarter Friday night to lead Falmouth to a 20-7 victory against Mt. Ararat in a Class B football game.

The touchdowns put the game away after Falmouth (5-2) led just 8-7 through three quarters, and came after it made two defensive stops in its own territory.

“I could not be prouder of our defense,” Coach John Fitzsimmons said. “We were tested. Everybody is jockeying for playoffs. (Mt. Ararat) knew they had to do it and they couldn’t be tougher. I’m very pleased with what happened. Our defense stepped up the way we hoped it would.”

The Yachtsmen played without free safety I.V. Stucker, their leading tackler who was travelling with his family.

“We were short several players but it made the defense even better because it was guys who were stepping up for the first time,” Fitzsimmons said. “I’ve got to give credit to Mt. Ararat. I love how they fought.”

The Eagles (3-4) opened the scoring with less than five minutes left in the half when Ben Abru scored a 5-yard run to cap a six-play, 94-yard drive. The score came three plays after an illegal block wiped out Devin Monteiro’s 85-yard scoring run. After the penalty, Mt. Ararat got the ball at the Falmouth 20.

It took the Yachtsmen (5-2) a little more than a minute to respond.

With 3:03 left, Storm Covens scored on a 5-yard run on a drive that included a 17-pass to Matt Edmunds and a 25-yard run by Connor Aube. Nelson rushed the 2-point conversion to make it 8-7.

Twice in the second half, the Eagles drove inside the Falmouth 30 only to be stopped. Mt. Ararat pulled out all the stops to keep its drives alive. On one possession, Brandon Jusseaume ran 15 yards for a first down on a fake punt.

“We were executing but we’ve got to be consistent,” Mt. Ararat Coach Frank True said. “We can’t make mistakes. I thought we were pretty evenly matched. It was going to be a close game and when you make those mistakes, it’s hard to overcome them.”

With 6:45 left in the game, Falmouth moved into a 14-7 lead when Nelson threw a 21-yard scoring pass to Aube.

The Yachtsmen completed the scoring with 3:03 left when Nelson scored on a 5-yard run to cap a nine-play, 63-yard drive.

“Our kids played really hard,” True said. “We suited 22 kids tonight and they start to wear out after four quarters with that type of intensity.”

Fitzsimmons was impressed with how difficult the Eagles made the game for his team.

“They didn’t surprise us,” he said.

“What we thought they would be tough on, they were tough on and they put some pressure on us.”

Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

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