LEE — Heading into the fourth quarter of its home opener on Friday night, the Lee High School football team held a one-score advantage over Franklin Tech.
That changed when Cole Redstone blocked an Eagles punt and the ball squirted through the side of the end zone, resulting in a safety. Lee quarterback Homer Winston then added two late rushing touchdowns as the Wildcats topped Franklin Tech, 22-0.
The safety gave Lee (2-0) a two-possession cushion — a 9-0 lead — with 10 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Winston then added touchdown runs of 5 and 18 yards, respectively, later in the frame.
“Football is all about momentum,” Winston said. “If you get that momentum change, everything about the game changes. We were able to come out on offense after the safety and drive the ball down the field. Our defense played incredibly today.”
For the Eagles (1-1), it meant having to score twice to have a chance to win — after not getting on the scoreboard through three quarters.
“Obviously that’s a key moment in the game,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “That’s a big play for them. We had a few players banged up and we had a different long snapper than usual, so the snap was a little slower getting back there and he just didn’t have time to get it off.”
Lee finished the game with 289 yards of total offense — 182 yards on the ground and 107 through the air — while Franklin Tech was only able to muster 45 yards.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 3:58 remaining in the first quarter when Nick Nicotra scampered in from seven yards out. The 13-play, 68-yard drive to open the game included third-down conversion passes from Winston on three separate occasions. He connected with Nicotra on third-and-2, Andrew Ruef on third-and-6 and Taggert Roosa on third-and-6.
Winston also hit Ruef for what would have been a 28-yard touchdown strike, but a personal foul brought it back to the 43-yard line for the Wildcats.
“I thought we got a little complacent after that first drive,” Lee coach Keith Thomson said. “We had a nice drive to start the game, we lost a touchdown on the penalty call, but were able to gather ourselves and punch it in to take the lead.
“Give Franklin a lot of credit, they came down here, they played really hard defensively,” Thomson continued. “They gave us fits, they changed things they were doing up front, we had a little trouble with it but we went in and talked about it at halftime.”
Winston threw for 107 yards and led Lee in rushing with 62 yards. Nicotra added 59 yards on the ground and led the Wildcats with 48 yards receiving on four catches.
For the Eagles, Jared Bergmann led the way with 21 yards passing and 18 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, Franklin Tech will host Easthampton on Friday evening.