Robie Leighton catches the game-winning pass for EL.
AUBURN – Chris LeClair and the rest of the Edward Little football team had to be disgusted after last week’s lopsided loss at Bangor.
On Friday, the Red Eddies took out their frustration on a Sanford team coming off a devastating loss of its own.
LeClair ran for 237 yards and three touchdowns, and added two interceptions on defense, as Edward Little survived the Redskins’ high-flying air attack to post a come-from-behind 26-23 victory at Walton Field.
“I told the kids from the beginning that (Sanford) would be a bigger team,” said Edward Little coach Jim Hersom. “We had to keep our legs moving and gain leverage, and work harder. We did that for the entire game and it showed.”
Sanford outgained Edward Little 393 yards to 291, most of which came through the air. Redskins quarterback Bill Pickering completed only seven passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, both to wideout Mike Gallagher. Gallagher finished with five catches for 249 yards.
“When you have a guy out there that’s 6-foot-4 battling against a corner that’s 5-foot-10, that’s going to happen,” said Hersom. “That’s the one thing we couldn’t stop them on.”
Cover corner Robie Leighton, who was torched for long sideline passes on defense, had the last laugh when he scored on an 18-yard slant up the middle with 1:16 left in the game to give the Red Eddies the win.
That capped a fourth quarter that saw three lead changes, five fumbles and a botched kickoff that sealed the game.
Edward Little started the final frame down 16-12, but after two failed drives, the Red Eddies took advantage of some good field position and moved swiftly down the field, covering 49 yards in three plays capped by a LeClair run.
Two plays later, Gallagher hauled in his second 70-plus yard touchdown reception of the game to put the Redskins back on top 23-19.
“The crowd got it’s money’s worth, that’s for sure,” said Sanford coach Mike Fallon. “It wasn’t fun to be on our sideline, but we did much better than last week and that’s something to build on.”
Sanford seemed to have the game in hand after it forced a fumble on EL’s next possession. With 2:45 to play in the game, Sanford had first-and-10 at its own 22-yard-line. Three plays later, during a center-to-quarterback exchange, the Redskins fumbled the game away.
“We lost our starting center to an injury on Wednesday, and we knew those exchanges were going to be tricky,” said Fallon. “That one hurt.”
The very next play, EL’s Matt Bennett hit Leighton over the middle. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball deflected off of a Sanford player’s foot right back to an EL player, ending the game.
“We played all 48 minutes,” said Hersom. “We adopted that work ethic and that philosophy at the beginning of last year, and we’ve stuck with it. What you saw tonight was a perfect example of that.”
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