FAIRFIELD — Josh Doolan was only able to play for one series after the first half, but his final play proved to be a difference maker. The Lawrence junior scored an important insurance touchdown by returning a punt 40 yards to help the Bulldogs escape with a 14-0 victory Friday night over the Lewiston Blue Devils.

Lawrence (6-0) had held Lewiston (3-3) on the opening possession of the third quarter to a 3-and-out. Tom Hird punted the ball away from the Lewiston 7. Doolan collected the pigskin at the Lewiston 40 and quickly found the protective wall to his right. He raced his way untouched before cutting back to his left to avoid Hird at the 10. As he went across for the score, Doolan clutched the back of his leg. He had pulled his hamstring and would be done for the evening.

“I give credit to my blockers,” said Doolan, whose leg was tightly wrapped in clear plastic wrap instead of tape. “They set the wall for me. I just had to cut at the last moment. I felt the pop in my leg, but it was a big momentum change.”

Three times in the first half the Blue Devils went across the 50 into Bulldog territory only to be stopped twice on downs. They also fumbled the ball away on second down from the Bulldog 8. Tailback Jeff Turcotte picked up 85 of his team-high 112 yards in the first half and fullback Jo McKinnon added another 54 yards on his 10 carries.

The Blue Devils’ best opportunity was stymied by the costly fumble early in the second quarter when they were driving for a potential tying score. As quarterback Chris Madden dropped back to pass, he collided with his two backfield mates before being sacked by Eriq Stewart. Lawrence defensive end Nick Routhier pounced on the ball at the 19.

“It was a miscue by our motion man,” said Lewiston coach Bill County. “He ran into our fullback and the fullback ran into the quarterback.”

Lawrence scored on their second possession of the game on a 9-play, 85-yard drive. Quarterback Spencer Carey got the drive rolling with a 22-yard pass to Bryant Wade, his only completion on the night. Carey also kept the ball himself for gains of 13 and 17 yards to set up a 3-yard scoring run by tailback Shaun Carroll Jr.

Despite Carroll’s 129 yards, the Bulldogs never got beyond the Blue Devils’ 30-yard line the rest of the game. Carey would be picked off twice by Turcotte and fumbled the ball three times, with two being recovered by the visitors.

“We had to persevere tonight,” said Lawrence coach John Hersom. “Lewiston really gave us everything we planned for. It wasn’t a real pretty win, but we’ll take it.”

Lewiston’s offense was delivered a damaging blow in the final seconds of the first half. As Madden was sacked and fumbled the ball for a 32-yard loss, he was injured and never returned under center. With their starting signal caller out, the Blue Devils struggled to move the ball against the powerful Bulldog defense. Turcotte managed just 27 yards after the break and the Blue Devils picked up a mere two first downs.

“We had some fight in us tonight,” said County. “It was unfortunate with the punt return. We had a couple of weeks we didn’t play up to expectations, but we played real physical tonight.”

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