Alvirne's Gabe Conrow tries to bring down Windham's Christopher Brearley during Friday night's game at Windham. (Photo by Joe Marchilena/NH-HighSchoolSports.com)

WINDHAM – With only a few plays separating the Windham and Alvirne high school football teams, Jack Byrne knew his Jaguars were going to have to hit a big one on offense if they were going to pull out a win.

Coming out of halftime, and pinned deep in their own end, turned out to be the perfect time for Windham.

Kevin Murphy hit Cameron Williams in stride and Williams outran the Broncos’ secondary for an 84-yard touchdown, giving Windham enough momentum to pull out a 14-12 win over Alvirne in a Division I Central Conference game Friday night.

Christopher Brearley added a 47-yard touchdown run, Windham got a safety in the first half, and the Jaguars (2-1 in D1, 2-2 overall) did just enough on defense to keep the Broncos at a distance.

But the touchdown pass set the tone for Windham.

“For us to get a big chunk play like that, absolutely huge, especially with the lights,” Byrne said. “That’s a factor that people might not know. It’s tough to see. You know you’re going to throw some bombs and kind of hope that you catch one. We got that one.”

The game was played under portable lights to celebrate the 13th annual Project Blackout Game, a night where Windham honors those in the community affected by pediatric cancer and also helps raise awareness.

The two touchdown plays combined accounted for more than 40 percent of the Jaguars offense, as they were outgained by the Broncos, 303-299. But the defense kept Alvirne (3-1) in check in the first half, recovered a fumble in the third quarter and stopped the Broncos inside the Windham 10-yard line in the fourth.

“They’re good, they’re stout,” Alvirne coach Matt Lee said. “Their defensive line is really good and they’ve got two or three linebackers who are really good. They’re defensive front, that’s probably the most physical group we’ve seen this year. They’re good.”

Mike Landmesser had 85 yards on 22 carries for Alvirne while Charlie Crawford added 66 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Crawford was also 14 of 28 for 166 yards and a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Rocheleau.

Windham looked like it might strike first in the opening quarter, but Caiden Cox recovered a fumble by Murphy at Alvirne’s 13-yard line to get the Broncos out of trouble.

But that didn’t last long. Unable to pick up a first down, Alvirne lined up to punt from its own 16, but the snap went over the head of Shawn Boudreau and out of the back of the end zone for a Windham safety and a 2-0 lead with 28.8. left in the first.

The Broncos tried to take the lead on their next possession, but Boudreau’s 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked and the game was still 2-0 going into halftime.

After the touchdown to open the second half put Windham up 8-0, Alvirne moved down to the Jaguars 44-yard line, but Rocheleau fumbled after catching a pass from Crawford and it was recovered by Windham’s Jake Michalik.

Alvirne’s defense held and then blocked a punt, giving the Broncos a first down at the Windham 39. Five plays later, Crawford found Garrett Hall for a 26-yard gain to the 3, and on the next play, the quarterback ran in for the score. Down two, Alvirne attempted a pass, but it fell incomplete, keeping it an 8-6 Windham lead.

The Jaguars came right back, needing just over three minutes to go 80 yards on seven plays, with Brearley’s long touchdown run putting Windham back up by two scores, 14-6.

“They made a couple of plays,” Lee said. “They do what they do well. They’ve got good running backs and a good quarterback who knows how to run the offense. It’s hard to practice for them, but you know what’s coming. They have got three options on every play and they throw some wrinkles in there.”

The Broncos responded by getting down to the Jaguars’ 8-yard line, but three straight incompletions by Crawford gave the ball back to Windham. Alvirne got one more chance after a three-and-out by Windham, taking over the Jaguars 46.

Crawford capped a 10-play drive with a scoring pass to Rocheleau to make it 14-12 with 2:42 to play, but again, the pass on the two-point conversion fell incomplete. The Jaguars recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to get the win.

“To see two groups of kids battling back and forth, and it’s always nice to come out on the winning end of it,” Byrne said. “That Alvirne team is no joke. Our guys showed they can handle a real solid opponent.”