BRUSHING OFF A LAKER TACKLE attempt is Raider Cody Gullikson, who scored the game's first touchdown on a 33-yard pass and run. (Rivet Photos)
RAIDERS 40
First Downs: 12
Penalties: 9-90
Turnovers: 0
Rushing: 31-250. Jared Chisari 9-93, Scott Parker 1-22, Cody Gullikson 4-28, Nathan Knapp 2-24, Oscar Saunders 1-13, Justin Daniels 2-13, Bryce Micklon 6-24, Brad Kruger 4-2, Isaak McKenney 2-31
Passing: Oscar Saunders 6-7-104, 1 TD
Receiving: Cody Gullikson 2-54-1, Ryan Hewes 2-28, Caleb Eklund 2-22
Tackles (unassisted/assists/total): Bryce Micklon 3-2-5, Tucker Buzzell 3-2-5, Caleb Eklund 3-2-5, Josh Frye 1-2-3, Brian O’Connor 0-2-2, Ryan Hewes 0-1-1, Jaden Dennery 1-0-1, Jack Campbell 2-2-4, Calvin Southwick 1-0-1, Dawson Jones 1-0-1, Eli Mahan 1-0-1, Liam Harriman 3-2-5, Justin Daniels 1-0-1, Charlie Stokes 1-1-2
LAKERS 6
First Downs: 6
Penalties: 4-20
Turnovers: 4
Rushing: 29-97. Andrew Douglass 10-64, Brent Massey 8-31, Eric Milton 1-5, Hunter McDaniel 1-6, Derek Mondville 3-(8), John Grant 1-(6), Isaac Rawson 5-5
Passing: Derek Mondville 2-5-53
Receiving: True Meyers 1-15, Isaac Holland 1-38
Tackles (unassisted/assists/total): Hunter McDaniel 4-2-6, Eric Milton 3-1-4, Mark Mayo 1-1-2, Zach Clark 2-2-4, Tyler Breton 1-2-3, Derek Mondville 1-0-1, Ethan McMurray 3-1-4, Thomas Noble 1-0-1, Isaac Holland 3-0-3, Jose Prado 1-0-1, Brent Massey 1-0-1, Colby Chaplin 1-2-3

By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — Every time the Raiders touched the ball in the first half, they scored.

Senior Jared Chisari rushed for 93 yards on nine carries and scored on touchdown runs of 13, 2, 8 and 9 yards to lead Fryeburg Academy to a 40-6 victory over Lake Region last Friday afternoon.

The victory was the Raiders fifth straight against their rival, 10th in the last 12 meetings. The last Laker victory was back in 2010, a 27-6 win over Fryeburg.

Four Laker turnovers and a short-field for the Raiders to deal with enabled Fryeburg to get the quick start Coach David Turner hoped for in the season opener.

With the wind gusting at the start of the contest, the Raiders won the coin flip and opted to defer ball possession to the second half in favor of selecting, which end to defend first — making the Lakers throw into the win in the first quarter.

“You never know with wind, how it’s going to work out. We thought if we won the toss, we would defer and try to pin them and make something happen, and we did,” Coach Turner said. “We did a really good job up front. We took over pretty quickly, which allowed our skill guys to make plays. Quick starts are always good.”

The FA defense did its job as Josh Frye and Caleb Eklund dropped Laker running back Isaac Rawson for a three-yard loss on third down to force a punt. A high snap was bobbled by LR punter Eric Milton, who tucked it away hoping to find enough green space on the left side for a first down. He fell four yards short, taken down on a big hit from linebacker Tucker Buzzell and Brian O’Connor.

After Chisari was stuffed for a two-yard loss, FA quarterback Oscar Saunders (6-for-7-104 yards) zipped a quick in-pass to Cody Gullikson, who broke free from a couple of grabs by LR defenders down the middle of the field for a 33-yard touchdown. Freshman Eddie Thurston (4-of-6) booted the extra point with just under three minutes gone in the game.

The Lakers caught a break when quarterback Derek Mondville’s throw down the right sideline was tipped by Gullikson and caught by LR tight-end True Meyers, who had just enough space to haul in the toss before being hit out of bounds, good for 15 yards.

The drive, however, stalled when LR was whistled for a motion penalty and Mondville bobbled the snap on fourth-and-one at the LR-47.

FA wasted little time. Chisari broke loose for 24 yards, stopped by Milton at the LR 15. After LR’s Mark Mayo and Zach Clark combined to stop Gullikson for just a two-year gain, Chisari received several sealing blocks on the edge to ramble untouched for a 13-yard score. A bad snap resulted in a missed extra point.

Less than three minutes later, FA was in the end zone once again as Chisari scored from two-yards out. The score was set up when a snap to LR punter Milton sailed over his head, and was recovered by Frye at the LR-11.

“We knew we had to stop both their speed and execution. They have tremendous athletes, and get to the right spots at full speed. We knew we had to respond immediately, or they would be on top of us. That’s what happened,” Laker Coach Brian Jahna said. “Turnovers and false starts kill you. Offensively, we can’t keep defenses off of us unless we use multiple (snap) counts. But, you can’t use multiple counts if you keep jumping off side. That has been a point of emphasis all preseason. We struggled with long snaps all week as our new snapper continues to work on his technique. It’s something that will get better.”

Down 20-0, the Lakers had a chance to halt some of FA’s momentum to start the second quarter. A 15-yard penalty pushed the FA kickoff back to the 25-yard line, giving the Lakers a good starting point, the LR-45. Andrew Douglass (10 carries, 64 yards) gained four, but a quick toss was fumbled and recovered by FA’s Calvin Southwick.

Saunders delivered crisp strikes to Caleb Eklund for 14 yards and Gullikson for 21, pushing the ball to the LR-7.

Fryeburg then ran into a “yellow” roadblock — four penalties, 35 yards. Faced with a third-and-goal at the LR-21, Saunders found Eklund for 8 yards before being tackled by Tyler Breton. On fourth down, Saunders escaped pressure by LR’s Hunter McDaniel, reversed field and powered through two defenders for a 13-yard TD. The extra point failed.

Trying to keep the Raider run defense honest, LR tried the air, but Mondville’s pass was intercepted by Scott Parker.

At the LR-45, the Raiders again worked through three penalties (35 yards) and a TD called back for an 8-yard scoring run by Chisari. The senior flash had broken an 18-yard run for a TD, but it was negated by a holding call. He took another pitch for 19 yards, and finished off the drive with a scamper to the left with 5:41 left until the half. Thurston’s extra point was good, FA 33-0.

With 2:48 left in the half, LR fumbled another snap and Raider lineman Reese Kneissler recovered at the LR-49. This time, no flags as the Raiders scored in three plays — a 22-yard run by Gullikson, a 18-yard run by Nathan Knapp and a 9-yard burst to the outside by Chisari for the score. The extra point was good.

FA 40, LR 0.

The Raiders rushed for 174 yards on 16 carries and tossed for 104 yards.

“I thought a few weren’t flags, but who knows? It’s something we have to clean up. Going in to next week when we play York, those are things we just can’t do, particularly when they take points off the board. We were fortunate to still be able to score, but we can’t afford to make those kinds of mistakes in the red zone, especially after big plays,” Coach Turner said. “Regardless of the circumstance, you have to deal with those penalties. At least we were able to play the next play. That’s what we did.”

What could go wrong, did go wrong for the Lakers over the first 24 minutes.

“We hoped to grind it out and limit their possessions because we knew the personnel they had coming back was both physical and had quick strike ability,” Coach Jahna said. “We felt if we could hold onto the ball and grind it out a little bit, we could be in good shape. But, we turned it over, gave them great field position and they scored on quick plays.”

Coach Jahna felt his club simply wasn’t able to match the physical-brand of play the Raiders brought to the table.

“We had a deer-in-the-headlights situation which we played a team that is a little more physical than us — hit a little harder — and didn’t know quite how to respond. You see the fundamentals break down because you start thinking about survival than just going out and playing football. The pressure Fryeburg was putting on us disrupted everything,” he said. “Defensively, we had assignments we worked on all week, but once they stepped onto the field, their eyes got real big and forgot what they were supposed to do. We knew they were going to run jet sweep. We knew the reads, but once they were out there, we went blind a little bit because of nerves.”

With the “running clock” in effect in the second half, each team had two possessions. FA took nearly eight minutes off the clock running the ball before being stopped at the LR-24 as Isaac Holland stopped Raider back Bryce Micklon four yards short of the first down.

The Lakers took their possession and went 76 yards in 10 plays with Brent Massey scoring from three yards out on a third down play at 8:21 left in the contest.

The key play in the drive was a sideline pass from Mondville to Holland, which just sailed over a couple of FA defenders, good for 38 yards on a 4th-and-7 play.

FA burned 7-plus minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter with seven running plays, including a 31-yard scamper by freshman Isaak McKenney. On fourth down, Coach Turner called for a kneel-down.

LR took the final 57.4 seconds off the clock with two runs.

Up next: The Raiders travel to York this Friday to meet the Wildcats (0-1) at 7 p.m. The Cats dropped their opener, 55-34 to Leavitt.

“We have to do everything better. Up front, we have to be better defensively and be more disciplined. We need to be more physical. And certainly, we need to cut down on penalties,” Coach Turner said. “York won’t hide what they want to do. They’re physical. They’re going to hit you in the mouth. They will be sound and disciplined on defense. They are going to make us make plays. We just have to be patient and stick with our plan and make some plays.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers host Freeport (0-1) at Art Kilborn Athletic Complex Friday night at 7 p.m. The Falcons lost their opener, 28-8 to Old Orchard Beach. Freeport beat the Lakers last year, 18-6.

“Frankly, we challenged the team at halftime and after the game as to what football means to them. We’ve seen them execute in practice. We have some talented guys. They have to come out on game day and execute it,” Coach Jahna said. “We can’t let the game get to big for them. They need to go out there and do what they need to do. It’s not the Xs or Os that are the problem. They need to calm down, play the game and have some fun.”