WALES – Three football seasons and two playoff appearances ago, two touchdowns by the guys in the white uniforms ensured that Oak Hill could have mailed in the final score of a somber home opener.

Nowadays, the Raiders view that double-digit deficit as motivation to dig in, not tune out.

Blue-shirted defense dominated the final three quarters Saturday, and two timely big plays by Kyle Harrington capped the rambunctious Raiders’ rally to a 15-14 Pine Tree Conference Class B victory over Leavitt.

“That’s the way Oak Hill used to play,” said senior quarterback and free safety Adam Labbe, referring to a string of five losing seasons that preceded the program’s present prosperity. “Now we know if we get down, it’s no big deal.”

After a personal foul facemask penalty against Leavitt on a punt return, the Raiders marched 42 yards in eight plays, culminating in Harrington’s 13-yard run up the middle with 1:17 remaining.

The biggest play, however, was the one directly preceding the score. Rolling to his right while under a furious Leavitt pass rush on fourth-and-9 at the 30, Labbe located Harrington in the right flat behind double coverage for a 17-yard gain.

It was only the fourth completed pass of the day for Oak Hill.

“We’ve got big-play guys,” said Oak Hill coach Bruce Nicholas, “and Kyle made a couple of big plays.”

Oak Hill (2-0 since returning to Class B) generated only 95 net offensive yards, so flourishes of brilliance were few and far between. Those moments of glory were sufficient, though, and they usually were the product of heads-up play by Labbe and Harrington.

Trailing 14-0, the Raiders received a gigantic boost when Labbe blocked Chris Brewer’s punt with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

On first down, Labbe hit Harrington on a hitch-and-go pattern to the left. Harrington broke two tackles, went 29 yards and pulled Oak Hill within eight points in the waning seconds of the quarter. Chad Schrepper blocked the extra point.

There was no additional scoring until the fourth quarter, when a 28-yard punt return by Harrington set up a 27-yard Labbe field goal to make it 14-9 with 11:17 to go.

Leavitt’s Tyler Poland reversed direction and stormed past midfield on the ensuing kickoff before fumbling. Alex Pruitt of Oak Hill recovered, and after a three-and-out, Labbe launched a 52-yard punt inside the Leavitt 5.

The sudden change of field position changed everything, in the estimation of Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway.

“If we don’t put the ball on the ground on the kickoff, we probably win,” said Hathaway, a former Oak Hill assistant now in his second year heading the Hornets. “They played good defense, and we played good offense at times, but I think our special teams was a problem again this week.”

Schrepper gave the day a promising start with a 57-yard punt return for a TD. Broc Hardacker capped the Hornets’ next series with a 44-yard scoring jaunt. Schrepper kicked both extra points for Leavitt, which missed two late two-point conversions in a 19-18 loss to Mountain Valley last weekend.

Oak Hill grew more stingy as the day went on, with Ryan Gallagher (16 tackles), Labbe, Harrington and Tony Poulin leading the charge. Aside from his returns, Schrepper was held to 51 total yards.

The game was fueled by an old-home theme, of sorts. In addition to Hathaway, at least two notable Leavitt players have moved over from the Oak Hill feeder system in recent years.

“I think this is our biggest rivalry now,” Poulin said.

“We miss (Hathaway) a lot,” said Labbe, “but I think a lot of us seniors wanted to show him we’ve still got it.”

Leavitt, now 0-2, faces a daunting road test at Winslow next week.

“There was no pressure on us. We weren’t supposed to win, so now the pressure’s on those guys,” said Nicholas. “We felt this was one of the teams we had to beat in order to make the playoffs.”

[email protected]