WINDHAM — Trailing Lawrence by eight points late in the second quarter, the Windham football team needed a spark. The Eagles got two.

First, Marcus Tillery’s interception with 5:05 left in the first half set the Eagles up at the Lawrence 2, and Windham capitalized with Max Arbour’s 20-yard touchdown catch from Landon Buzulchuk to get on the board.

Then, with 23.4 seconds left in the half, Arbour returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown, and the Eagles had a lead they would not relinquish in a 23-8 win.

“Last week I returned one, but it got called back. The blocks were incredible. I just followed my guys into the end zone,” Arbour said.

Windham is now 2-0, while Lawrence is 0-2.

This game was a rematch of last season’s Class B North championship game, won by Windham in double overtime. For most of the first half, it looked as if the Bulldogs would take this rematch. Lawrence moved the ball well in the first quarter and the start of the second, taking an 8-0 lead with 9:10 left in the second quarter, when Parker Higgins caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Michael Hamlin. After a roughing the kicker penalty on Windham on the extra-point try, Lawrence converted the 2-point conversion with a Higgins rush for an 8-0 lead.

It all changed with Tillery’s interception on the first play of the drive after Lawrence stopped Windham on downs at the 21. Taking over at the 26, Arbour caught Buzulchuck’s fade in the back right corner of the end zone to pull the Eagles within a point, 8-7, with 1:41 left.

Four plays later, Arbour’s punt return completely flipped momentum.

“We knew we had to change it around. (Tillery) got us the ball right back. Everything after that clicked,” Arbour said.

Alex Yeaton’s 2-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter pushed Windham’s lead to 20-8, and Jordan Bridge nailed a 29-yard field goal with 8:18 left to cap the scoring. Defensively, the Eagles got better as the game wore on and held Lawrence to 62 yards in the second half. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their final two possessions.

“Guys trusted it. Guys were really starting to understand what we’re doing and being patient. They (Lawrence) do a lot of things that hypnotize you, and all of a sudden the guy’s running behind you and they’re throwing over your head,” Windham Coach Matt Perkins said.

The Bulldogs had a good opportunity to score in the first quarter when Buzulchuk mishandled a bouncing snap on a punt, giving Lawrence first-and-goal at the Eagles 9. False start and holding penalties pushed the Bulldogs back, though, and the drive fizzled at the Eagles 11.

Haddon Boyle led Windham’s ground game with 147 yards on 32 carries.

For Lawrence, Higgins had 97 yards on 16 carries, along with three catches for 33 yards.

Travis Lazarczyk — 207-861-9242

tlazarczyk@pressherald.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM