The Alvirne Broncos football team strung together two consecutive wins for the first time this season after narrowly beating the Dover Green Wave by one touchdown in the final seconds of the Friday night, Oct. 24 game.
The Broncos 28-21 win over the Green Wave was their third victory of the season and their second home win.
The game also served as the annual senior night, where graduating members of the team, band and cheerleading squad where they were honored in a ceremony before the game.
Both teams waited to the later part of the second half to finally get on the board.
In the opening drive of the game, the Broncos defense was able to force Dover to punt from their 47-yard line on two sets of downs only to see the team’s offense go three and out and punt from their 20.
Alvirne got good field position to start their second drive, beginning at their 43-yard line, and had a promising drive end at the Dover 26-yard line where a failed attempt at a field goal began the second quarter.
The attempt by Suleiman Suleiman came up short, handing possession over to Dover at the 20-yard line.
The following three drives ended in punts on both sides of the field until the 2:35 mark of the second, when senior running back Mikey Landmesser returned a punt from the 35-yard line for a 65-yard touchdown run, dashing through several Dover defenders.
Suleiman followed that run up with a successful extra point to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead at the half.
After the defense forced another Dover punt, Alvirne was able to get into the Green Wave end-zone again, this time with a 30-yard pass from junior quarterback Ethan Dudley to Quinten Tetreault with 44-seconds left in the half, to go ahead 14-0.
Dover responded with a very quick and successful 70-yard drive, scoring in just 30-seconds on three straight completions.
With the score 14-7 it was still anyone’s game heading into the second half.
The Broncos offense carried their scoring momentum into the third quarter, scoring on their opening drive starting from the 30-yard line and taking up six of the 12-minute period.
The touchdown came on a three-yard run into the end-zone by Dudley and Suleiman got the point-after for a 21-7 lead.
Dover responded with another very fast set of downs scoring on four-plays, featuring a 53-yard pass, to set up a two-yard run and making it 21-13 with 3:30 left in the third.
From there, Dover attempted an on-side kick, but ended up giving the Broncos exceptional field position.
That miscue didn’t wide costing Dover after the follow drive by the home team ended with an interception at the Dover 10-yard line.
Dover had another successful bomb down field, with their quarterback connecting on a 65-yard passing play during the first drive of the fourth. A two-point conversion knotted the game at 21-21 with just seven-minutes left to play.
The Broncos responded with a fumble at the DHS 25-yard line, in a drive that was looking very promising to that point.
Thankfully for Alvirne, the Dover drive only went about 15-yards before they were forced to punt.
Landmesser had an exception return to put his offense at the 42-yard line for their final drive of the evening.
In that drive, Landmesser did much of the leg-work, until he had a 30-yard run to the twenty, where he appeared to be injured. The senior running-back was taken off the field with what appeared to be cramps with just :40 left in the period.
Two plays later, with Landmesser back on the field, he ran the game-winner in from the 15-yard line for his second touchdown of the game.
Landmesser came up big on his senior night, finishing with 11 carries for 96-yards, a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown, and one reception for four-yards.
Dudley had 23 carries for 126-yards including a touchdown run. The junior went 8/12 in passing attempts for 90-yards and one TD pass.
Quinten Tetreault had three receptions for 52-yards with a touchdown,
Now at 3-5, the Broncos still have a chance for a playoff spot, provided they win the final game of the season, on the road against the 4-3 Merrimack Tomahawks.