MEREDITH — It took the Inter-Lakes High School football team just 20 Division VI games to bring a championship to Meredith.

The Lakers' defense turned Kevin Brady's second-quarter touchdown run into a game winner Saturday, stopping Winnisquam's Pat Sanborn inches shy of the marker on two separate fourth down tries in the final quarter to secure a 6-0 triumph for the Division VI title.

The Lakers became champions in just their second year as a varsity program, capping a perfect 11-0 run in league play. They went 4-5 their inaugural year.

"To win 6-0, that's a hard-fought game," said Brady, who carried the ball 36 times for 139 yards and a 9-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. "Both sides. Both teams. That was unbelievable. We're lucky six points did it for us."

The Lakers scored those six points on a 14-play drive that took nearly 61⁄2 minutes to complete. Brady carried the ball 10 times over that stretch, taking it in on third-and-3 from the Winnisquam 9 after he spun off an initial hit near the goal line and extended to break the plane.

The play nearly never happened. Earlier, Winnisquam's Jordan Riberdy met Brady at the line of scrimmage for no gain to put Inter-Lakes in a fourth-and-3 situation at the Bears' 34. The Lakers opted to go for it, and on a rare pass play, freshman quarterback Mitchell Jurius hit fullback Conor Donovan right at the sticks along the sideline. The officials took a few extra looks on the measurement — even re-spotting the chains — before rewarding Inter-Lakes the first down by the very tip of the football.

"A game of inches today," Winnisquam coach Pat Riberdy said. "They say that, but it was. Two or three times."

In the biggest moments, those inches went Inter-Lakes' way.

The Bears took their first big gamble with 6:32 to play in regulation, facing a fourth-and-2 on their own 47. After a timeout to talk it over, speedy junior Kyle Pratt got the call on a give around the left end that went for 13 yards and a first down. But faced with the same scenario three plays later, a fourth-and-2 on the Laker 42, Sanborn went straight ahead on a dive play and came up inches shy of the 40.

"Defensively I think we were ranked No. 3; they were ranked No. 1," Inter-Lakes coach Paul Lavigne said. "Both defenses came up big, but I think our defense of bending but not breaking was there today."

The Lakers, content with playing a field-position game, ran some clock with three straight runs and then punted the ball to Winnisquam's 23. With less than three minutes to play and just one timeout left, Winnisquam was running out of chances.

"The second half we had the momentum," coach Riberdy said. "But their special teams, every time we had the momentum that deflated it a little bit."

The Bears picked up a pair of first downs and set up a first and 10 on the Laker 49 with the clock at 1:45, but then the drive faltered. Quarterback Derick Jenness tried a deep throw down the sideline that Laker corner Lee Irwin slapped away. Pratt picked up 5 yards up the middle on second down, but the Bears were faced with their third pivotal fourth down after Jordan Riberdy was stacked up at the line for no gain on a third-down carry.

"They keyed on the run game," Sanborn, who carried the ball 17 times for 100 yards, said of the Lakers. "They knew we were going to come out running the ball, and they played a good game."

Out of timeouts and facing a fourth-and-5 with 59 seconds to play, the Bears put the ball in their best playmaker's hands. Jenness faked a left-side handoff to Pratt, turned and dumped the ball off to Sanborn on a screen to his right. Sanborn quickly cut upfield and took on Laker tacklers, but when the bodies came off the pile, the ball was about a yard short of the marker.

"That's a play we hadn't run all game," coach Riberdy said. "We kind of saved it for the right time. I think a first down there, and who knows where you go with it after that."

Winnisquam's best chance to score came even before the fourth-quarter drama. On their first possession of the second half, Sanborn broke free for consecutive runs of 19 and 17 yards and the Bears were in the red zone for the first time when the ball popped loose from Pratt and into the arms of lineman Jordan Wickens, who caught it and fell forward to the Laker 14.

R.C. Greenwood photo Winnisquam's Matt Descoteaux, left, and Inter-Lakes' Lee Irwin battle for the ball during the Division VI championship game in Meredith on Saturday.

The Lakers stiffened. Runs by Sanborn, Pratt and Alex Evangelo totaled just 5 yards, and facing a fourth-and-5 on the Inter-Lakes 9, Winnisquam decided against a 26-yard field goal attempt. Instead, Jenness took the snap and rolled right to pass. No one broke open and he was forced out of bounds for a 2-yard loss.

Inter-Lakes held Winnisquam to an 1-for-4 clip on fourth down conversion attempts. All four came in the second half.

"Before the game our coach was saying, 'If they can't score they can't win,'" Inter-Lakes captain Tom Rees said. "Those were huge. We stepped up big. I was a little nervous on those (fourth downs) but we believe in our team."

Donovan, Irwin and Tanner Quinney all led Inter-Lakes defensively with seven tackles while Leo Kerr chipped in six. The Lakers shutdown Winnisquam's passing game. Jenness finished 4 of 12 for 32 yards and an interception that was hauled in by Inter-Lakes' Josh Guilmette. Quinney, Rees and Kerry Seeley all recorded unassisted sacks.

"We didn't do anything defensively that was different in the second half," said Lavigne, who last won a championship coaching Milford 30 years ago. "We just played tougher, and that was important."

Winnisquam's Justin Dorr led all receivers with three catches for 28 yards. Pratt added a solid performance on the ground with 47 yards on eight carries. Defensively, Evangelo had an interception when Jurius tried to surprise the Bears with a deep pass over the middle early in the second quarter.

"They're proud of themselves; we're all proud of them," coach Riberdy said. "A lot of talent on the team this year, not to take anything away from Inter-Lakes. They have the same amount of talent. They are loaded with seniors and it was just a battle of who wanted it. They got that early score, and that was it."



LAKERS, 6-0

WINNISQUAM (9-2, 10-2) 0 0 0 0 — 0

INTER-LAKES (11-0, 11-1) 0 6 0 0 — 6

SCORING: Second quarter: IL-Brady 9 run (kick failed) 0:07.

RUSHING: IL-Brady 36-139, Clive 4-13, Kerr 4-13, Donovan 2-8. W-Sanborn 17-100, Pratt 8-47, Evangelo 3-10, Descoteaux 1-5, Dorr 1-1, Riberdy 4-1, Jenness 3-(-15).

RECEIVING: IL-Donovan 1-3. W-Dorr 3-28, Sanborn 1-4.

PASSING: IL-Jurius 1-3—3, Guilmette 0-3. W-Jenness 4-12—32.

TOTAL YARDS: IL-174, W-181.