AUBURN — Edward Little’s defense came up with two fumbles and an interception against Mt. Ararat Friday night. Most nights that would be enough to send Mt. Ararat to a defeat, but the Eagles, in their first season as a member of the Pine Tree Conference, are learning to overcome adversity.

Mt. Ararat got past its turnovers and a few costly penalties to take care of Edward Little, 21-12, at Walton Field. The loss dropped the Red Eddies to 1-5 on the season while the win gave the Eagles a 2-4 mark.

“We worked a lot this week on not freaking out when the chips are down,” Mt. Ararat coach Erik Sargent said. “This team is really an emotional roller coaster.”

Running back Chris LeClair got Edward Little off to a good start by scoring on a tough 7-yard touchdown run to cap the Red Eddies’ opening series. He carried a pair of Mt. Ararat defenders into the end zone with him, but the Red Eddies missed the extra point and led 6-0.

Mt. Ararat, however, came right back with a solid drive, culminating in a 1-yard run by quarterback Chris Doherty (104 yards rushing) and after the extra point, the Eagles took a lead they would never give up at 7-6.

But it was a difficult lead to hold because of the Eagles’ own miscues.

A fumble ended a promising drive and gave the Red Eddies life late in the first quarter. But the Eagles defense stiffened when it had to and kept the Red Eddies out of the end zone.

And on the other side of the ball, Mt. Ararat’s triple-option offense kept the Red Eddies guessing all night.

“We didn’t play assignment football,” Edward Little coach Jim Hersom said. “They executed fairly well, and they made us pay.”

Doherty came up with a couple of big runs in the first half that helped open the pitch to Jake DiBattista (169 yards rushing) to the outside.

“I think a lot of teams say, ‘We’re going to let the quarterback run because he’s not going to beat us,'” Sargent said. “And he converted some big third downs tonight, and that’s just going to make it tougher for other teams.”

Cliff Juntura scored on a 2-yard run off the option with 7:05 left in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 14-6 lead, a lead Mt. Ararat took to halftime. But there even more mistakes for the Eagles to overcome in second half. Jimmy Ouellette returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown only to see it called back on a penalty.

Later in the third quarter, with the Eagles driving, Doherty was picked off in the end zone to give the Red Eddies life. A little bit of luck gave Edward Little the ball at the Mt. Ararat 5-yard line after a strange pass play. Quarterback Matt Bennett tried to hit Kenny Poulin on a quick slant but the ball deflected off his hands over a Mt. Ararat defender and into the hands of Robie Leighton, who scampered for a 75-yard gain. But again the Eagles’ defense stiffened when Juntura picked off Bennett in the end zone to keep the Red Eddies from scoring.

“You don’t like to point at one thing,” Hersom said. “But when you get down there, you want to score.”

And when DiBattista scored on a 48-yard run early in the fourth quarter to put Mt. Ararat up 21-6, it looked like the Eagles would roll.

But a botched punt return gave the Red Eddies the ball at the Eagles’ 33, and Edward Little would not waste this chance.

LeClair (73 yard rushing) scored his second touchdown of the night, a 5-yard run, to pull the Red Eddies within 21-12 with 7:44 left to play. But Edward Little couldn’t convert on the two-point conversion and didn’t get any closer.