FALMOUTH — It was a list of things we never see from Leavitt football, all wrapped up in one ugly game Friday night.

Eleven penalties. Five interceptions. Drives that reached the red zone but ended in a turnover or a sack. Quizzical looks and hanging heads.

Undefeated Falmouth, led by senior Connor Aube’s three touchdowns and two picks, lowered the boom on Leavitt, 24-14, in a Class B South clash rife with playoff seeding implications.

And it adds up to something else nobody has seen in a while: Leavitt (3-2) has lost consecutive games for the first time since 2007.

“We were terrible in the red zone, terrible with penalties, terrible with turnovers,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “Poor coaching.”

Falmouth (5-0) shut out Leavitt in the second half to rally from a modest 14-12 deficit.

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The turnaround began when Logan Herodes sacked Levi Craig to halt Leavitt’s opening drive of the second half on downs at the Falmouth 23.

That led to a systematic 13-play, 77-yard drive, capped by sophomore Jack Bryant’s 20-yard strike to older brother Sean Bryant. The younger Bryant was 5-for-5 on the series to three different receivers.

Austin Wheeler of Falmouth and D’Andre James of Leavitt exchanged their second interceptions of the night to stifle drives, but Falmouth’s flourish continued early in the fourth quarter.

Aube hauled in an underthrown ball from Craig deep in Falmouth territory and raced 46 yards to the Hornets’ 21. Four plays later, he was in the end zone from 11 yards out to make it a two-possession game with 8:38 left.

“You’ve got to score on the takeaways,” Aube said. “It’s a momentum-builder.”

Buoyed by a 46-yard desperation heave from Craig to Max Green on fourth-and-9, Leavitt drove all the way to the 2 before a false start and an incomplete pass left the Hornets with third-and-goal from the 7.

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Aube intervened again with his second interception in as many drives, this time for a touchback.

Sean Bryant put his mitts on another end-zone takeaway in the closing seconds to apply the exclamation point.

“The secondary played well, all clicking together,” Aube said. “There was good communication all around. We knew what was going on. We prepared all week for it. We knew they had the deep ball, and we took it away.”

Craig was 13-for-31 for 261 yards. Green caught seven of those for 178.

Aube had a 4-yard TD run and a 56-yard scoring catch from Bryant after being left wide open in the flat, both in the second quarter.

“We could defeat blocks and tackle better, probably, than we are,” Hathaway said. “I don’t think it’s a scheme thing. “

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Aube finished with 14 carries for 82 yards. Brandon Martin was 10 for 60 on the ground in the second half.

“Coach said it perfectly. We’ve got a hard conference, but we know we’re going to see them in the playoffs, so why not see them early and see how we match up?” Aube said. “So far we’re doing pretty well.”

Leavitt lost 29-28 to reigning Class B Marshwood after failing to convert a two-point conversion in the closing minutes.

Aside from penalties, the Hornets dominated the Yachtsmen early. Craig’s 34-yard strike to Green set up a 2-yard Craig keeper for a 6-0 lead with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

The Hornets had an apparent 74-yard TD bomb from Craig to Green wiped out by an offensive pass interference call. That drive later ended with Simmons’ first interception.

“Our goal-line D, I don’t even know how to describe it, to tell you the truth,” Aube said. “We all come together. The intensity is so high. Everybody loves to fight.”

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Aube’s two second-quarter scores came in a span of under three minutes for a 12-6 lead.

Leavitt ran its two-minute drill to perfection, driving 73 yards in the final 1:51. Craig located Billy Bedard for 23 yards and Green for 40 to set up Green’s 8-yard TD grab on fourth-and-7 with 30 seconds to go

After a flag on the conversion — No. 19, combined, for the two teams in the half — set Leavitt back five yards, Craig zipped one to Green for the halftime lead.

But Falmouth rallied for one the biggest wins in the history of its program, although the Yachtsmen are trying not to frame it that way.

“It’s just another game for the books,” Aube said. “We’ve got to keep rolling. We want to go 6-0 next week.”

Hunter Sirois led the Hornets with 19 carries for 119 yards.

koakes@sunjournal.com


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