Thompson’s field goal lifts Londonderry past Exeter, into D1 football final

Blake Thompson kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired Saturday to give the Londonderry High School football team a 31-28 win over Exeter in the Division I semifinals at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.

Sam Ogden ran for two touchdowns and 67 yards while completing 5 of 9 passing for 112 yards and a 49-yard touchdown to Ethan Wheeler. That score put the No. 3 Lancers (8-3) up 21-0 with 9:38 left in the first half, but the No. 2 Blue Hawks battled back in the second half.

Exeter (10-1) tied the game at 21, and after Londonderry went back in front, Michael Caron found Sam Dulac for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 left in regulation to tie the game at 28.

Daniel Batstone had 109 yards and three touchdowns for the Blue Hawks while Tyler Bland added 74 yards on the ground.

Adrian Cruz rushed for 143 yards for Londonderry, which took over at its own 35-yard line with 1:14 remaining and the score tied at 28. Ogden connected with Nathan Marshall on first down for 10 yards, and two plays later, the senior quarterback found Mason Paquette for an 18-yard gain.

Ogden spiked the ball to stop the clock with 32.6 seconds remaining, and before the Lancers could run another play, Exeter took a timeout. Ogden and Paquette connected again, this time for a 30-yard gain to the Blue Hawks’ 6-yard line.

Each team took a timeout following the play with 19 seconds on the clock, and it looked like Ogden put the Lancers back in front, as he found the end zone on first down. But a hold brought the play back and gave Londonderry a first down at the Exeter 14.

With no one open on the next play, Ogden threw the ball out of the end zone with 3.3 seconds left, setting up Thompson’s game-winning kick on the final play.

The Lancers move on to the D1 title game for the fourth year in a row and fifth time in the last six seasons. Londonderry will face No. 4 Pinkerton, which beat No. 1 Bedford in the other semifinal, at 1 p.m. on Nov. 30 at site to be determined.