On Military Appreciation Night at Morse High School, the Shipbuilders used a potent ground attack in rushing for over 300 yards as they broke a 20-20 tie in the fourth quarter to slip past Lake Region, 27-20, in Class C football action at McMann Field on Friday night.

Senior running back Austin Baltazar carried the ball 32 times for 228 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore Mason Savary ran for 84 yards and a score on a dozen carries.

“We love our backs and love our line,” Morse coach Jason Darling said. “Very much like last year, we see this as a turning point that we realize we can play tough a little bit.”

In a game that featured four lead changes and a couple of ties throughout the contest, it was ultimately Morse’s ability to possess the ball and wear Lake Region (0-3) down. Also in the mix, was the ’Builders not so secret weapon in Baltazar.

“We knew he was going to run the ball all night, the same as last year,” Lake Region coach Mike Shea said. “We just couldn’t stop the toss to the running backs.”

Things started shaky for Morse. The defense forced the Lakers to punt on their first possession, but a mishandled snap was fumbled on Morse’s first offensive play to turn the ball over. After another three and out, the home team fumbled the punt, turning the ball back over to the Lakers on the Morse 20-yard line.

Five plays later, Lake Region was on the scoreboard when Brandon Sargent ran in a 13-yard touchdown near the halfway point of the opening quarter for a 7-0 lead.

Each team traded punts on the next two possessions, but on Morse’s third time with the ball, they hit paydirt.

A 72-yard drive, highlight by a 29-yard run by Baltazar, had Morse on the scoreboard. Quarterback Corey Larmon ran to the corner of the goal line for the 2-yard score, followed by Asa Hodgdon’s kick to tie the game, 7-7.

The Lakers responded on the following drive when quarterback Ethan McMurray connected with Sargent for a 35-yard pass play, setting up running back Brent Massey for the final 29 yards on two carries to put the Lakers back ahead, 13-7, following the missed point-after kick.

The Shipbuilders (1-2), behind Baltazar’s 60 yards rushing, ran down the last five minutes of the half on the following drive and took the lead, 14-13, with seven seconds left on a 2-yard score by Savary.

“This is my senior year and I want to make sure I don’t leave anything out on the field,” Baltazar said.

Final 24 minutes

Baltazar carried the ball on the first five plays of the second half, scoring from 42-yards out to give the home team a 20-13 lead after the 2-point conversion failed.

“Our line did an outstanding job tonight,” Darling said. “Guys like Ben Doughty and Jacob Mowry, stepping in for us. Then Ishan Myers at left tackle and Boden Gould at center, and Austin Magliozzi opened some holes for us.

“I was really proud of Ty Knowlton and his blocking out of the backfield. He made some huge blocks back there.”

Lake Region’s next drive was extended after a pass interference call on fourth down gave the Lakers some new life. Three plays later, McMurray scampered into the end zone from 17-yards out to tie the score at 20-20 following Paul Vigna’s kick.

Morse put together a 12-play drive that took the game into the final quarter on its next possession. The 76-yard march that took six minutes off the clock ended with a Larmon to Lukas Osterhaut touchdown pass for 13 yards. Hodgdon’s kick gave Morse a seven-point lead with 9:05 on the clock.

“We made some mistakes tonight and shot ourselves in the foot,” Shea said, pointing to the 11 penalties committed by his team. “You can’t give a team like that extra chances.”

The Lakers were unsuccessful on their next drive, punting the ball away into Morse territory. But Lake Region’s defense came up big, stopping Morse and getting the ball back with 4:08 remaining.

A pair of incomplete passes and a huge sack by Magliozzi on fourth down sealed the victory for Morse.

“That was a big play by Austin,” Darling said. “Our defense came to play tonight.”

Larmon converted a fourth-and-one with 95 ticks left on the clock, and Morse ran off the remaining time by taking a couple of knees for the win.

Despite the outcome, Shea noted it wasn’t a total loss.

“We’ll learn from tonight,” Shea said. “We’re still pretty young, but we’re getting better each week.

Morse travels to Gray-New Gloucester this upcoming Friday, while the Lakers will face Gardiner on the road.