Lauter Pays Dirt to Secure 'W'

Brunswick found a way to outlast the visitors from Williston Northampton on Saturday afternoon on Cosby Field, coming from behind in the fourth quarter and holding on for a five-point win, 20-15.

After trading fumbles on each team’s first possession, Brunswick moved the ball down into the red zone and capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown throw from QB Danny Lauter to Kha’lil Eason. Wells Faulstich converted on the point-after.

The Bruins could not muster much more offense in the first half and yielded a short touchdown run and a two-point conversion try to the visitors before the end of the first half. 

Lyndon Gay, Jesse Schutzman, and Jurgiz Schmedlen were terrors in the Williston backfield in the first half, and Hunter Clark had a strip sack that was recovered by Schutzman. 

Needing a big play, Brunswick came out and registered a stop on defense on the first series of the second half. Shortly thereafter, Chris Gaine broke a tackle on the right sideline and scampered 75 yards to paydirt after tight-roping the sideline for a few steps. Faulstich converted the point after for a 14-8 lead. 

The lead was short lived, though, as Williston mounted a drive deep into Brunswick territory. The Wildcats found the end zone and converted on the point-after to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter. 

Despite several fumbles and 10 penalties, the Bruins continued to fight, and Lauter pulled the ball down and ran 20 yards into the end zone in the fourth quarter to take a 20-15 lead with just over three minutes to play. 

Williston quickly drove down to the Brunswick 28-yard line and with one minute to play, the visitors started to take their shots at the end zone. Senior captain Charlie Johnson, however, stepped up to separate a receiver from the ball on the three-yard line, breaking up what would have been a long reception. On the ensuing play, Johnson sealed the deal for the Bruins with a leaping interception on the goal line to take possession with 58 seconds left in the game. 

Much credit to the Williston players and their coaches, as this was a hard-fought, down-to-the-wire game that could have gone either way.

Brunswick makes the trek to Pennsylvania next week to take on Wyoming Seminary at 2:00 p.m.