TURNER – The Brewer Witches came into Friday night’s football game against Leavitt as one of the top-ranked teams in Eastern Class B.

They left the same way. Brewer jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on for a hard fought 16-7 victory over a very stubborn Leavitt team Friday night.

“We wanted to run the ball right at them until time and yardage was against us,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway.

After playing a scoreless first quarter, Brewer found the end zone late in the second quarter. Getting the ball on their own 37 yard line, the Witches needed four plays to find pay dirt. The key play of the drive was a 34-yard run by workhorse fullback Matt Littlefield.0

Two plays later, tailback Chris Noyes ran the final 20 yards for the game’s first score.

“It was a very exciting game,” said Brewer coach Ed Ortego. “I believe the turning point was our defense. We were able to stop them on some key plays.”

The Hornets had a golden opportunity to score just before the half, but quarterback Dustin Gilbert’s pass into the end zone was intercepted.

Brewer took the second-half kickoff and put together a nine-play, 62 yard scoring drive. Running back Andy Frost ran in from 15 yards out to give Brewer a 14-0 lead.

That lead was short lived as the Hornets came right back with their only scoring drive. A 19-yard pass play from Gilbert to tailback Tyler Poland on fourth-and-six. Four plays later, Poland crossed the goal line on a 2-yard burst to cut the lead in half.

Brewer rounded out the scoring when Leavitt reserve quarterback Matt Cote was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

“We struggled offensively,” said Hathaway. “We’re going to try a finish the season on a positive note.”

The Hornets have a bye next week before finishing the season at Morse.

Brewer, on the other hand, has two home games remaining.

“We’re looking forward to playing at home, said Ortego. “We’ve done a lot of traveling this year.”