TURNER – After suffering a tough loss in overtime to Oak Hill last weekend, the Leavitt Hornets found themselves in danger of falling out of the playoff race in Eastern Class B football.

Following Friday night’s 14-11 victory over Winslow, the Hornets are back in the thick of things.

“It was a tough week of practice,” said Leavitt Coach Mike Hathaway, “With everything going on, the kids managed to stick together. This was a good victory.”

Defense was the name of the game in the first half as both teams struggled offensively. Winslow fumbled the ball away on their first two possessions, while the Hornets had a fumble and pass intercepted as well.

“It was a very good game”, said Winslow coach Mike Siviski, “Both defenses played well.”

Winslow finally broke into the scoring column, taking over after Eric Lopez intercepted a pass. The Raiders moved the ball in position for a 38-yard field goal by Ben Poulin for a 3-0 lead.

The Hornets took the lead late in the second quarter. Quarterback Matt Cote connected on two quick strikes, one to Corey Witham and then a 20-yard pass to Broc Hardacker with 56 seconds left in the half.

Chris Brewer provided the extra point and the Hornets led 7-3 at halftime.

Leavitt then added to the lead, taking over to start the fourth quarter. The Hornets (3-2) needed 7 plays to drive 31 yards for the score. This time Cote found Corey Witham in the corner of the end zone and the Hornets led 14-3.

Winslow (3-2) came right back with its best drive of the night.

The 8 play, 52-yard drive ended when Justin Lindie dove in from 7 yards out to cut the Hornet lead to 14-11 with 4:04 left in the game.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Hornets, who ran the clock out for the victory.

“We worked hard on our pass protection this week,” said Hathaway. “Our new motto is play every possession like it’s our last and see what happens”.