YARMOUTH – Jake Moody caught two touchdown passes and Chris Carney returned a free kick for a touchdown to propel Wells to a 22-15 win against Yarmouth in a Western Class C football game Friday night.
Aside from those three big plays, defenses dominated in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
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“I thought both teams played great defense,” Wells Coach Tim Roche said. “I don’t think we moved the ball really well, and I don’t think they did what they really wanted to do offensively.”
The two squads combined for slightly more than 300 yards of offense.
“Defensively, I think we played well,” Yarmouth Coach Chris Pingitore said. “They’re were firing off on defense. It made running our offense pretty difficult. It put us into position where we ran some plays we wouldn’t run ordinarily.”
The game turned on special teams play in the third quarter.
With Yarmouth ahead 15-8, a poor snap on an attempted punt by the Clippers resulted in a safety. Carney returned the resulting free kick 55 yards for a touchdown that gave Wells (4-1) a 16-15 lead.
The safety followed an exchange of fumbles after a muffed punt gave the Warriors the ball on the Yarmouth 21.
“We were playing for field position, and I thought we were getting the better of them defensively, and we field a bad punt,” Pingitore said. “Boy, we gave up field position and put them right where they wanted to be.”
The score was tied 8-8 at the end of the first half.
The Warriors opened the scoring in the first quarter when Nate Booth threw a 66-yard pass to Moody on the third play of the game.
Despite starting three consecutive possessions in Wells territory, it took the Clippers the rest of the first half to pull even. With 48 seconds left in the second quarter, Thomas Lord plunged in from inside the 1, capping an 11-play, 61-yard drive kept alive by a fourth-down penalty against Wells.
The defenses dominated during the first 24 minutes. Between them, the two teams made five first downs and had 150 yards of offense.
The Clippers (3-2) looked to be in command when they started the second half by marching 61 yards in six plays to move into a 15-8 lead. Lord capped the drive, which featured a 48-yard pass from Brady Neujahr to Matt Woodbury, by plunging in from the 1.
After Carney’s kick return pushed Wells back in front, the Warriors made it 22-15 when Booth threw a 31-yard pass to Moody with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
Yarmouth threatened midway through the fourth quarter and had first-and-goal at the 9 following a 29-yard pass from Neujahr to Grant Tobias and a 51-yard run by Woodbury, who finished with 100 yards on 12 carries. But Wells held on downs with less than five minutes to play.
“We’re still in good position to secure a playoff spot,” Pingitore said. “We know we can play with these guys.”
Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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