Staff photo / Preston Byers Lakeview’s Asa Lantz (3) runs with the ball during the first half of a game against Springfield on Friday in New Middletown.

NEW MIDDLETOWN — Springfield had plenty of chances to earn a win in Adam Slopek’s first game as the Tigers’ head coach, but it was Ron DeJulio Jr. who earned his first win as the Lakeview head coach in a 10-7 overtime win in New Middletown on Friday.

Bulldogs kicker Easton Bradley won the game for DeJulio and his Lakeview teammates with a field goal in overtime, capitalizing on several Tiger mistakes in regulation and OT.

“It’s great, especially doing it here,” DeJulio said of his first win. “They got so much tradition here. This is a tough place to play. To be able to come in here and get a win at the end, just so proud of our guys. Proud of everybody — proud of the private defense. Defense carried us all night.”

Both teams had their fair share of drives fizzle out in the first half.

Lakeview, after getting the opening kickoff, started the game off with a 7-yard quarterback push sneak, a strategy it used at various points throughout Friday evening.

Two plays later, Noah Engle took a handoff and broke free for 30 yards, setting up the Bulldogs at the Springfield 25-yard line. However, following a 6-yard run, the Bulldogs fumbled in the backfield. Although they recovered, the miscue put the run-heavy Lakeview behind the chains, which ultimately led to a failed fourth-down try just outside of the 20-yard line.

Springfield’s first drive went similarly.

The Tigers flipped the field instantly with a 44-yard jet sweep to the right by Matt Wymer, putting them on Lakeview’s 35. But the next three plays resulted in a combined negative-2 yards, setting up a Brayden Baird punt.

Neither team managed to get past midfield on either of their next two drives, but Springfield’s third possession set the Bulldogs up well for their following drive.

After starting from their own 15, the Tigers lost two yards across three plays before Baird’s punt went about 15 yards and a Springfield personal foul at the end of the return invited Lakeview to start its drive at the Tigers’ 12-yard line.

In the red zone for the first time since the fumble earlier in the game, the Bulldogs relied on Hayden Newton to get into the end zone; quarterback Asa Lantz handed the ball off to Newton for a 9-yard gain before again handing it to Newton, who fought through several would-be tacklers to break the plane and put the Bulldogs ahead. Bradley’s extra point made it 7-0 Lakeview with 8:10 remaining in the half.

Springfield responded with its best sustained drive of the evening; following a recovered fumble on the first play, the Tigers methodically made their way down the field, all the way from their own 35 to inside Lakeview’s 10-yard line.

Springfield entered the red zone for the first time on a 17-yard Wymer sweep, which put the Tigers at the 15-yard line. Facing a third-and-4, though, Springfield running back Caldwell was stuffed at the line of scrimmage. On a pivotal fourth down, Baird managed to eke out just a single yard, turning the ball over on downs with less than three minutes left in the half. Lakeview subsequently ran out the clock to return to the locker room with a 7-0 lead.

Springfield took chunks of yardage at a time early in its first drive of the second half, rushing for 7, 16 and 11 yards on three consecutive plays before the Tigers began going backwards.

After momentarily reaching Lakeview’s 41-yard line, Springfield committed a false start, a holding penalty and a delay of game, which pushed the Tigers back to their own 39. Baird soon thereafter punted away the ball for the fourth time of the night.

Lakeview punted the ball right back following a three-and-out, which allowed Springfield to right the wrongs it had done on the previous drive.

Baird completed a 6-yard pass, Caldwell rushed for 10 and Lakeview jumped offsides to set up a 3rd-and-10 at the Bulldogs 20-yard line. The result was a Baird pass that was batted down by Newton at the line of scrimmage.

In the middle ground of a field goal and punt, Springfield, before it could go for it, pushed itself back 5 yards with a penalty. Still, facing a fourth-and-15, Slopek decided to go for it — and it paid off.

From the 25-yard line, the Tigers ran a jet sweep reverse flea flicker, enabling Baird to throw it to a wide-open Marco Gentile down the left sideline. Grady Page’s PAT tied the game 7-7 with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter.

Following another stalled drive by Lakeview, Springfield again drove down to inside the Bulldogs’ red zone.

Leaning on the duo of Gentile and Caldwell, the Tigers were stopped at the 15-yard line, bringing out Page to try to take the lead. However, the freshman kicker never got the chance to do so, as the snap was bobbled and Wymer, the holder, was tackled well short of the first down.

The special teams errors would prove prophetic. After Lakeview failed to put together a scoring drive, the Tigers drove down the field in the dying moments of Friday’s game. Following a sack on the previous play, an off-balanced Baird heaved the ball to a wide-open Wymer near the right sideline.

Slopek allowed the clock to wind down to three seconds to go after a short-yardage gain by Caldwell. He then sent out freshman Page, if successful, to win the game for the Tigers.

Page appeared to do just that with a successful field goal, although an offensive penalty pushed Springfield back, and after two timeouts by Lakeview, Page hooked the would-be game-winner right, taking the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Page missed a longer field goal after the Tigers’ offense failed to get within true striking distance.

Slopek said he fully believed in his freshman kicker in the high-stakes moments down the stretch.

“I’ve watched the kid make so many clutch plays as a basketball player and a football player in junior high and stuff like that, and he drilled the first one,” Slopek said. “There was no hesitation, no doubt in him. My heart breaks because he feels responsible, but it’s not him. Put the blame on me for everything.”

Unfortunately for Springfield, Bradley was successful in his own attempt just moments later, which gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 start and the Tigers an 0-1 start to the season.

“I’m very confident in Easton Bradley,” DeJulio said. “He’s a heck of a soccer kid. He comes out for us every day, and I have the utmost confidence in him. Anytime we’re in that position — when we’re backed up, I got confidence in him to punt too because he’s gonna get us out of trouble.”

Lakeview hosts Crestview next week in its home opener, while Springfield visits Brookfield.