LEWISTON — As Cody Dussault’s 23-yard field goal try slowly tumbled end-over-end toward the goal post, it appeared for a moment that Friday night’s see-saw affair between Lewiston and Cony might reach a fitting, if nearly impossible, conclusion, with the pigskin teetering precariously for several seconds on the crossbar.

The ball did indeed make contact with the back of the crossbar, but the suspense lasted only another instant, as it tumbled over in Lewiston favor for a 29-26 overtime victory in a Pine Tree Conference nail-biter at Don Roux Field.

“When I kicked it off my foot, I turned and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s good,'” Dussault said. “Then I looked back and I saw it coming closer and closer to the pipe, and then it went over, and it was just an adrenaline rush from there.”

“I just wanted to win this for the seniors because this was their last home game,” the junior added. “I’m just glad I could kick that for the seniors and give them a victory.”

Dussault’s boot salvaged a win for the Blue Devils (5-2) in a game that saw them squander a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and 26-14 in the fourth quarter. The Rams (3-4) kept battling back with a big-play passing game led by QB Nate Duncklee (16-for-26, 278 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions) and wide receiver Rick Orio (six catches, 175 yards, two TDs).

The Devils hurt themselves with 11 penalties and appeared to deliver their own fatal blow when Andy Pulk (11 carries, 116 yards, two TDs) fumbled at his  own 25 with the game tied and 1:22 remaining. But Caleb Johnson picked of Duncklee inside the 10 on Cony’s first play to preserve the tie after Lewiston ran out the clock to end regulation.

Lewiston coach Bill County called his players together and told them to forget the ups and downs of the first 48 minutes.

“We gave up the last 12 points, so you tend to be the team that goes into the overtime regretting it, and you’ve got to make sure that the kids aren’t down about that,” County said. 

Pulk redeemed himself and erased Lewiston’s only penalty in the extra session when, after a facemask gave Cony 3rd-and-goal from the 4, he teamed up with Tyler Nunez to throw Duncklee for an 8-yard loss. Duncklee’s pass attempt on fourth down fell incomplete, opening the door for the Devils to win it with a field goal.

Three runs by Jeff Keene (22 carries, 100 yards) and Eddie Chan (20 carries, 95 yards, TD) got the Devils to the 6 and put their coaching staff in a bit of a dilemma.

“If we were inside the 2, we were going to go for the touchdown. If it was outside the 2, we were going to kick the field goal,” County said. “Cody’s pretty good in practice, and obviously tonight he missed two (PATs), so it was tough to make that call because of that. But we had confidence in him.”

Lewiston may have gotten a little too confident after building its 14-0 lead with relative ease. The Devils drove 65 yards to a Chan 13-yard touchdown run on their first possession, then scored in one play on a 86-yard TD run by Pulk on their second. The defense shut down the dangerous Duncklee on the ground, but the Cony QB went to the air and found a seam deep in the secondary and started to exploit it during two scoring drives that pulled the Rams even with 3:25 left in the half.

“When they went up 14-0, we started to play with a little more of a
sense of urgency defensively,” Cony coach Rob Vachon said. “And we do
some things offensively that present some challenges for defenses. It’s
real hard to stop a passing game in the Pine Tree Conference.”

Keene stopped it momentarily with a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Devils up 20-14 heading into halftime.

After struggling to come close to its first quarter proficiency in the second quarter, Lewiston’s offense got in gear again with a 93-yard TD drive that devoured 12:13 off the clock from early in the third to early in the fourth quarter. Pulk’s 2-yard score on fourth-and-goal was the 24th play of the drive and put the Devils up 26-14.

Cony needed just one play to respond — an 83-yard Duncklee-to-Orio connection over the middle to pull within six with 9:47 to play.

The Rams got the break they needed to tie it when the Devils’ punter bobbled a high snap and was tackled at his own 23. Duncklee’s 4-yard TD pass to Orie tied it with 2:10 remaining, but Colin McKee’s PAT try went wide right.