FAIRFIELD — He was part of a remarkable effort on the offensive side of the ball. Yet once again this year, it was Preston Roy’s penchant for big plays on defense that was influential in a Lawrence football victory.

On a night that defensive stops were at a premium, it seemed another Hampden Academy pass play might doom the Bulldogs on senior night at Keyes Field. But just as the Broncos’ Andrew Cote looked set to cut back into the end zone on a completed pass, it was Roy on top of the ball celebrating another game-changer.

Roy’s strip and fumble recovery with just over a minute left Friday sealed a 39-35 Lawrence victory in the regular-season finale. The play highlighted a night that saw the Bulldogs rack up 499 yards on the ground in another vintage offensive effort against a Hampden team that excelled through the air.

“Like I said before (after a strip-and-score in Week 5 against Messalonskee): I saw the ball loose, and I freaking stripped it,” Roy said. “I was freaking so happy, especially on senior night. It’s such a good feeling.”

Colton Carter ran for 368 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries for Lawrence, while Roy ran for 104 yards and a score. Gavin Monyok completed 15 of 22 passes for 340 yards and five touchdowns for Hampden.

Many fans hadn’t even reached their seats yet when Carter sprinted 80 yards for a score on the first play from scrimmage to put Lawrence (5-3) up 7-0. Hampden, though, took almost no time to answer as, three plays later, Monyok found Cote for a 55-yard score to make it 7-7.

Lawrence then made it 13-7 with 7:18 left in the first quarter as Carter scored from 10 yards out. After forcing a Hampden (4-4) turnover on downs on the ensuing drive, the Bulldogs went 67 yards in seven plays with Roy scoring on a 21-yard run late in the first quarter to make it 20-7.

Lawrence running back Colton Carter stiff arms Hampden Academy defensive back Trey Collier on a rushing play during a football game Friday in Fairfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“That’s really how we start out our week every week, by making sure we’re going to have a good run game,” said Lawrence head coach John Hersom. “Colton was explosive tonight, and he felt good. That was a big plus for us, and to have Roy making those runs, that keeps them from focusing on Colton.”

Hampden answered with an 8-yard pass from Monyok to Cote before getting a stop and a 60-yard pass from Monyok to Aiden Kochendoerfer to go up 21-20 midway through the second quarter. Lawrence responded with a 7-yard Carter run with 3:36 left in the half and a 3-yard run by the senior midway through the second quarter.

A pair of touchdown passes from Monyok to Andy Henaghen then bookended a 23-yard toss from Michael Hamlin to Leighton Bradford for Lawrence. Then, after Hampden stopped the Bulldogs in the red zone and drove down the field, Roy’s strip and recovery sent the Lawrence faithful wild.

“It came down to who would hold up at the end, and it was that play Preston made,” Hersom said. “We continue to talk about ways to create turnovers and work on that, and he felt there was an opportunity to do that, stripped the ball out and recovered it. That was a huge play.”

It wasn’t the first time this year Roy made a key defensive play that helped power a Lawrence victory. The aforementioned strip-and-score on the second half kickoff against Messalonskee was a momentum-swinger for the Bulldogs, who would lead by multiple scores the rest of the way in a 48-28 victory.

On this night, Roy’s play would be one of few big defensive ones made with Lawrence steamrolling Hampden on the ground and the Broncos gashing the Bulldogs in the passing game. Yet despite all the fireworks, Lawrence only trailed briefly, the 21-20 deficit to Hampden in the second quarter lasting just three minutes.

“One of the biggest things Coach always says is adversity, and I think that’s one of our key terms we use,” said Carter, who shouldered a bigger workload than usual with Dustan Hunter-Bellows out with a foot injury. “We had some adversity, and we faced it. … We rose above the occasion.”

The win was a thrilling way for Lawrence to get back on track after a 48-3 loss to Falmouth last week. The Bulldogs failed to earn a first-round bye after Cony beat Mt. Blue 47-21 earlier Friday, but the offensive effort is a good building block as they prepare to defend their Class B North title.

“We really stepped it up this week in practice,” Carter said. “We had a lot of energy in practice down here in the valley, and we took it up here and executed every play — play by play — and it led to that score up there.”

Henaghen had seven catches for 121 yards for Hampden, which got four catches for 111 yards from Cote and three for 105 yards from Kochendoerfer, who added 49 rushing yards.