SOUTH DEERFIELD — In a swift and rainy contest Friday night, gotta-have-it plays were made all the more crucial as Lee paid a visit to a Frontier team coming off three straight losses.

Seemingly every time a one-score game hinged on a single play, the host Redhawks were the ones making it, and the soggy result came out with 14-6 Intercounty League South win for Frontier.

The Redhawks got a touchdown pass and a touchdown run from senior quarterback Aiden Dredge, who managed to complete three balls for 104 yards on a wet night that saw his ground game held to just 110 yards on 27 carries. 

But every little bit counted, as Brady Poreda somehow kept his footing long enough to drill two PATs that provided a bit of comfort as Lee got the ball back down eight with a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

Wildcats quarterback Omari Smith completed a jump-throw over a converging Frontier line to running back Dawson Reber, who made it 25 yards before he was hit late out of bounds. Kaden James was flagged on the play, but likely saved a touchdown by chasing down Reber from the opposite side of the field. The result was a first-and-10 for Lee from the Frontier 35-yard line. 

Frontier’s defensive backs held coverage on first down, forcing Smith to settle for a 6-yard run, but he was kept in bounds. Smith spiked the ball on second down to stop the clock at 32 seconds.

Again, the Redhawks defense held, and Smith was forced to throw his third-down pass out of bounds.

On fourth-and-4 from the Frontier 29, Lee’s Shaun Kinney got open on a short crossing route, but in a torrential rain, he couldn’t haul in Smith’s pass. 

Frontier took over in victory formation.

“Lee is a really tough team, we lost to them pretty bad last year,” said James. “We had that mentality coming into tonight, and that’s why we won this game.”

That wasn’t the only time Frontier’s defense stepped up. At the tail-end of a lightning-quick first quarter, Lee had taken its opening possession from its own 39-yard line to the Frontier 16 on nine running plays. Collin West wasn’t gassed, though, and he took down Smith for a 2-yard loss on first down. Two plays later, he combined with James on a third-and-9 sack that ended the quarter. The first play of the second was an incompletion and a turnover on downs.

“We felt a little underrated, underappreciated with what we’ve done in the past,” said James. “We took that and put our pride in front of us and made sure we played well.”

The second play of Frontier’s second drive was a big one. Dredge connected with Ian Burt about 15 yards upfield, but Burt made two defenders miss and sprinted across to the other sideline on a 75-yard pickup to the Lee 5-yard line.

On third-and-goal, Bray Arsenault got himself wide open in the left corner, and Dredge hit him for the touchdown.

Lee responded with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Zavien Siok, but somebody got a hand on the extra point and it glanced wide, leaving Frontier up 7-6. The Redhawks special teams later pinned Lee on it’s own 2-yard line with a punt that essentially ended the first half.

A big flag took away an even bigger gain by Siok on the opening possession of the third quarter for Lee, which wound up punting away.

The Redhawks took over and went on a clock-draining 14-play drive that spanned from 6:37 of the third quarter to Dredge’s 7-yard touchdown run with 10:41 to play in the game. 

During that drive, James picked up 4-yard first-down runs on third-and-2 and fourth-and-4 from the Lee 19.

“We were very prepared, practiced a lot with a wet ball, making sure we had a good grip,” James said. “Two hands every time.”

On the ensuing Wildcats drive, James sacked Smith on fourth-and-5 from the Frontier 35, with 7:16 left. The Redhawks managed to take more than six minutes off on their next drive, leaving Lee rushed and down a score and two-point conversion in the final minute.

Dredge was 3 of 6 for 104 yards, while Burt had 38 yards on four carries. Poreda had 29 yards on seven carries. He also caught a 24-yard pass and kicked two extra points. James had 16 yards on seven carries, and Arsenault 13 yards on five carries.