MATTAPOISETT – After a slow start in the first half, Fairhaven was able to pick it up in the second half to take down South Coast Conference crossover opponent Old Rochester on the road Friday night.

A long touchdown run for senior Richie Senna and a pair of second-half stops aided the Blue Devils to the 14-7 victory over the Bulldogs.

“That was a great football game and (Old Rochester) dominated us in the first half,” said Fairhaven coach Derek Almeida. “We were kind of lucky to get out of (that first half) with a tie score. I’m proud of our guys for coming out in the second half and playing the way they did, but they didn’t play well early.”

With the game knotted 7-all in the third, the Fairhaven (2-1) defense came up with a three-and-out to start the frame. Four plays later, Senna caught the pitch to the counter side and took the ball 56 yards to the house to make it 14-7 with 7:53 left in the third.

“Aaron Lague made a great block on (Senna’s) run,” Almeida said about the go-ahead score. “We executed the triple option perfectly and Richie did what he was supposed to in catching it in a full sprint and taking it up the sideline.”

The defense took over from there with consecutive stops on the next two drives for Old Rochester (2-1) as the Bulldogs drove down the field to the Fairhaven 17 before an incomplete pass for Old Rochester to turn the ball over on downs with 1:00 to go in the third.

It was the second turnover on downs forced by the Blue Devils as they stopped the Bulldogs with a little over two minutes left in the first half at the Fairhaven 5.

“Part of it was to not overreact,” said Almeida about the key defensive stops. “(Old Rochester) was doing some things to hurt us and we had some good answers. But we had to make sure everybody else stayed on their keys and played their position.”

After a punt for Fairhaven early in the fourth, Old Rochester had a short field, but a couple costly penalties forced the Bulldogs to punt with 6:57 remaining.

From there, seniors Cameron Burke and Justin Marques ran out the rest of the clock with none bigger than a 10-yard rush for Burke with 2:29 remaining on 3rd-and-7.

“We thought about pitching it there and he’s a good runner,” Almeida said about the game-sealing run. “We had Marques as the lead blocker, so we figured we’d let (Burke) roll out. If it’s there to run, then run it. If there’s a throw there, then we were prepared to make the throw, but we needed a first down there.”

Marques ran the ball 18 times for 77 yards to go along with the other score in the second quarter to make it 7-7 with 10:55 to go in the first half. Lague added eight carries for 104 yards.

For Old Rochester, senior captain Jack LeConte rushed 30 times for 135 yards and the lone score that made it 7-0 for the Bulldogs with 2:11 left in the first.

Next Friday, Fairhaven will play at Greater New Bedford Voke at 7 p.m. Old Rochester will be at Dartmouth next Friday at 7 p.m.