BRUNSWICK — As poorly as the Lewiston football team played Friday night, the Blue Devils still had a chance to win.That proved to be the team’s consolation after a difficult night.

Lewiston rallied in the second half and got within a point. The Blue Devils had two opportunities to take the lead in the final quarter but fell short in a 19-18 loss to Brunswick.

“I knew they were going to be a good football team,” said Lewiston coach Bill County. “I thought they would probably hit us harder than we’d been hit by any other football team. I think we survived it pretty well, but it’s too bad to lose on a PAT.”

Lewiston was plagued by turnovers, poor special teams play and shoddy tackling on defense. Trailing 13-12 at the half, County gave his team a rousing halftime speech, and Lewiston responded with a stronger second half.

“I told them at halftime that after playing as poorly as we played, we still had a chance to win,” said County. “We were only down by a point. I thought special teams were suspect tonight. The opening kickoff, all of our punts, we lost field position games all night.”

Brunswick got 188 yards on the ground on 53 carries. Rashon Edgerton led the way with 91 yards on 19 carries. John Williams added 78 yards on 21 tries as the Dragons won the physical battle up front. Lewiston’s running game managed just 104 yard total, getting 59 from Andy Pulk on 13 carries. 

“After the start, we felt physically up front that we were tougher than them,” said Brunswick coach Dan Cooper. “We knew they were very athletic on the edge. Everytime we tried to get outside, it would end up being a losing situation. We just tried to stay the course and pound it. I think the pounding we gave them offensively helped us defensively up front. We started getting some shots on them, and they were getting hurt.”

Brunswick opened its one-point halftime lead in the third. A Lewiston fumble at the 12 set up the Dragons (3-1) score that made it 19-12. Quarterback Stephan Jenson rolled left and found fullback John Williams for a 2-yard pass with 4:05 left in the third.

Despite its struggles offensively, the passing game began heating up. Ronnie Turner started finding receivers and the Blue Devils (3-1) were holding on to the ball. The biggest play came when Nick Weekes tipped a pass over a defender and made a leaping grab that led to a 49-yard touchdown pass with 11:50 left in the game. Jeff Keene rushed the conversion up the middle but was stopped, leaving it 19-18.

“We kind of tripped on that play,” said County. “I thought we’d get in there, and we’d walk out of here with a win.”

Lewiston got the ball back twice more in the second half. The Blue Devils got as close as the 20 when Turner hit Dante Bailey for a 20-yard pass. A personal foul call after the play pushed Lewiston back to the 35. The drive stalled there. After a Pulk 5-yard run, he was dragged down for a 7-yard loss. An incompletion and an interception followed with 6:19 left.

“It was a matter of staying physical and not letting them get deep,” said Cooper. “Give them credit, Ronnie Turner was throwing the ball really well.”

A strong defensive stand got Lewiston the ball back with 2:12 left at their own 20. Turner gained 16 on a run but injured his ankle on the play. With him out of the game, a bad snap from center led to a 21-yard loss. Turner hobbled back in but threw an incompletion and then an interception. Turner finished with 107 yards on five completions but limped off in significant pain.

“Defensively, I thought they did a great job in the second half bringing pressure,” said County. “We had a hard time finding an answer.”

Though Brunswick marched downfield on the opening drive, Lewiston scored first when Keene intercepted a pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown with 7:33 left in the first quarter. Brunswick got that back when Edgerton returned a fumble 60 yards to tie it with 3:14 left in the first. 

Pulk made it 12-6 with 1:46 left in the first with a 52-yard run, but Brunswick took the lead by halftime when Jenson plunged in from the 1.