FAIRFIELD — Momentum can be terribly short-lived. The Edward Little football team found that out the hard way when it took on perennial Pine Tree Conference powerhouse Lawrence Friday night.

 Twice, the Red Eddies came up with big defensive plays late the first half only to have the momentum rug pulled out from underneath them. The second instance came after the Red Eddies had thwarted the Bulldogs on fourth down with just two ticks remaining in the half and trailing by 16 points. On the final play of the half, a seemingly non-descript run up the middle by Brandon Vye, Lawrence linebacker Christian Powers stripped the senior running back of the ball and returned the fumble 44 yards for a touchdown.

Powers’ slight of hand delivered the knockout blow in propelling the Bulldogs to a 44-0 win over the Red Eddies.

For Powers, it was the second consecutive week he had pulled the ball away from a ball carrier and took it the distance. This time, it turned a tight 16-0 contest into a one-sided affair.

“In the first half, we didn’t play as sharp as we had to,” said Lawrence coach John Hersom. “I believe it was the strip that really turned things around for us. After that we seemed to settle down and execute better.”

“We wanted to score (before the half ended), but we didn’t,” said Powers. “I told myself, ‘if they run to my side I was going to take it.’ A bunch of us were trying to tackle (Vye) and he wasn’t going down. I ripped it out with all of my strength.”

Despite being held without a first down until early in the third quarter, the Red Eddies (0-2) hung tough on the defensive side of the ball throughout the first half. A Bobby Belanger 19-yard scoring pass to Mark Yandian and a Nate Letourneau 3-yard touchdown had the Bulldogs (2-0) up 16-0.

The Red Eddies stopped a Bulldog drive early in the second quarter when Fred Reed picked off Belanger. Later in the half, the first potential momentum-changing play took place. On 3rd -and-9 from the EL 40, Belanger attempted a pass over the middle, only to have the ball tipped by Jimmy Foss into the hands of cornerback Teven Colon. Colon raced 67 yards downfield before being tackled at the Bulldog 6.

That momentum lasted shorter than Colon’s trip down the sidelines as the subsequent handoff fell to the ground and was recovered by Lawrence defensive back Nate Letourneau.

“We talked a lot about not looking at the scoreboard,” said EL coach Darren Hartley. “The package that (defensive coordinator) Travis Dube puts together is incredible. The score at the half should have 16-0 or 16-8, but we had a breakdown and put the ball on the ground. It breaks our heart. It breaks our players’ hearts and it breaks our coaches’ hearts.”

The Bulldogs pounded out a pair of touchdowns on the first two possessions of the second half to essentially put the game away on a pair of Powers’ touchdown runs (9 and 50 yards), but it really over at the half. Powers led all rushers with 166 yards on 11 carries as the Lawrence ground game garnered a total of 349 yards rushing.

“We were pumped up in the locker room (at halftime),” said Powers. “We wanted to come out and win the game in the third quarter.”

Not overlooked in the loss was the play of Colon. The junior sat out week one with an injury, but returned to have the long interception return, a pass defended, a 46-yard kickoff return and numerous physical, open-field tackles, including a pair for losses.

“We missed him last week,” said Hartley. “He’s been banged up, but anytime he’s on the field he’s one of the top two or three kids out there.”