His team certainly made a few of them against Dunkirk hours later.

On the night the Section VI high school football season opened, the Eagles picked up one of the most thrilling victories they’ll have all year.

On the other sideline, Dunkirk was saddled with one of the toughest defeats a team will suffer this season as Lake Shore recovered a fumble at the goal line to hang on for a 26-20 overtime victory.

“I’m proud of the way the kids played. We’re such a young team,” said Dunkirk head coach Mark Benton. “Either team could’ve won that game. … I guess it just wasn’t to be tonight.”

Dunkirk quarterback Noah Sikes scrambles away from the Eagles’ pressure. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

Tied 20-20 after regulation, Lake Shore (1-0, Class B1) appeared to score a go-ahead touchdown on the first play of overtime, but it was called back due to a penalty. After multiple flags fell against the Eagles, Lake Shore was backed up to the 30-yard line and faced a fourth-and-20. With the odds stacked against them, the Eagles’ two biggest playmakers delivered. Senior quarterback Jaden Kennedy found senior wide receiver Aidan Kaczmarek on a deep ball down the Eagles’ sideline. Kaczmarek reeled the ball in and eluded multiple Dunkirk tacklers to not only earn the first down, but find his way into the end zone.

“Our two biggest playmakers came through,” said Russell of Kennedy and Kaczmarek’s eventual game-winning touchdown. “Not only did (Kaczmarek) make the catch in that situation, he finished it. … That’s that ‘want-to.’ That’s the thing you can’t measure.”

The moment was even more special for Kennedy given that he did not start the game under center. Sophomore Rob Gillette began at quarterback before eventually giving the reins to Kennedy, last season’s starter.

“I hope he takes this and runs with it. There’s a reason why he didn’t start and he knows why,” said Russell of Kennedy. “But, ultimately, I told him when he does get his opportunity, to get in there and prove he belongs out there, prove that he needs to be the one that leads this team, and he did that. … I kept telling him to go take over the game, to be a king out there. He was a king.”

The first half of the contest was as thrilling as the conclusion. After Dunkirk (0-1, Class B2) turned the ball over on downs to begin the game, five straight drives ended with a touchdown in one way or another — though one was not in the way anyone expected.

Lake Shore running back Ashton Curry scores the first touchdown in Thursday’s game. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

With the game tied at 7-7 halfway through the second quarter, Dunkirk senior two-way starter Quanteer Neallard intercepted a pass by Gillette at the goal line and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. After the extra point, Dunkirk led 14-7.

“He just read it perfectly,” said Benton of Neallard’s interception. “He made a sensational play. He’s a hell of an athlete.”

After the pick-six, Lake Shore made the change to Kennedy at quarterback and it paid immediate dividends. Kennedy’s first play at quarterback was a keeper for 26 yards. Two plays later, Kennedy kept it himself again and reached the end zone for a 6-yard score. The Eagles went 50 yards on three plays in 58 seconds to tie the game at 14-14.

Dunkirk answered on the next drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Noah Sikes to Trestin Briggs. The extra point was blocked, which left the score at 20-14 with less than a minute to go before halftime.

The second half included a scoreless third quarter before Lake Shore tied the score at 20-all on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Kennedy to Kaczmarek. The extra point was blocked.

Lake Shore quarterback Jaden Kennedy scrambles during overtime of Thursday’s season-opening football game against Dunkirk in Angola. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

After each team traded unsuccessful drives, the stage was set for the Marauders to win on the final drive of regulation. Dunkirk entered the red zone with under two minutes left to play and worked the clock down to 33.5 seconds remaining for a first-and-goal from the Eagles’ 5-yard line. A botched snap from the shotgun formation sent Sikes scrambling after the ball, and after tossing it out of bounds in the grasp of a defender, an intentional grounding call sent Dunkirk all the way back to the 33-yard line. Two plays later, Sikes was intercepted on a deep ball down the Dunkirk sideline at the 5-yard line. Lake Shore took a knee to send the game to overtime.

Sikes — who was fighting cramping in his lower body the entire second half and overtime — had a moment of redemption as he blocked the extra point on Lake Shore’s touchdown in overtime. That gave his team the chance to win the game with a touchdown and an extra point.

“I was afraid he might be a little starstruck tonight with it being his first start of the year, but, god, he played well,” said Benton of Sikes. “He made some nice runs on broken plays. I’m really excited about him.”

However, when Dunkirk drove all the way down to the 3-yard line on third-and-goal, the exchange on a handoff from under center was fumbled and Lake Shore recovered to preserve the victory.

Dunkirk’s touchdowns on the evening were a 10-yard pass from Sikes to Briggs; a 3-yard run by Sikes; and Neallard’s 99-yard interception return.

Lake Shore got a pair of touchdowns from Kennedy to Kaczmarek; a rushing touchdown by Kennedy; and a rushing touchdown by Ashton Curry, the game’s first score.

Dunkirk takes on Olean in Dunkirk at 7 p.m. a week from tonight , while Lake Shore hosts Iroquois next Friday at 6:30 p.m.