The recipe for a great high school football game includes great weather, a big rivalry, lead changes, game-saving tackles, critical turnovers, big hits, two-point conversions, great individual performances and a capacity crowd.

All the ingredients were present Thursday night at Al Leber Field where Lewis Central turned away a late St. Albert drive to win 22-15 in an exciting season-opening non-district game.

Ryan Whittington upended Falcon quarterback Nolan Batten at the Lewis Central seven-yard line with less than a minute to play to preserve the Titan victory. The Falcons had a chance to win or tie the game after Cameron Tucker snatched a ball up for grabs away from two Titan defenders for a 29-yard gain on fourth-and-eight, placing the ball on the Titan 11-yard line.

Jimmy Waters overcame a shaky first quarter to throw for 209 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 46 yards and the winning score in his varsity debut at quarterback. Waters struggled early, missing his receivers with wobbly passes and throwing an interception, but found his rhythm in the second and third quarters.

"I was a little too jittery and throwing ducks because I didn't have my fingers on the laces," said Waters. "I was rushing myself and I didn't need to. I settled down and started making plays."

Big plays, indeed.

Near the end of the first half, three illegal procedure penalties pushed the Titans from the Falcon six to the 20-yard line and had L.C. coach Larry Sterbick fuming.

Waters salvaged the drive by eluding a sack by Falcon senior co-captain Doug Moran on a rollout and then threw a bullet to Jordan Besco, who cradled the ball at the back of the end zone to narrow the Falcon lead at halftime 8-6.

Waters threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Besco on the Titans first drive in the third quarter, standing poised in the pocket and getting hit hard by a Falcon defender as he threw the ball.

Waters scored what proved to be the winning touchdown with a 3-yard run off the right side behind 275-pound right guard Kody Housley and 272-pound right tackle Devin Juel.

"Waters is a special player," said Sterbick. "He made plays and is very dangerous. He's a two-time state champion in wrestling, is very tough and very coachable."

Waters had not started a game at quarterback since his freshman year.

"A week ago I told coach I'm not ready to start at quarterback," said Waters. "I had not learned all of the routes of the receivers. We made a lot of mistakes tonight."

The momentum was on the side of the Falcons in the first quarter.

The Falcons drove the ball with ease on its first drive, picking up four first downs. After seeing a 51-yard field goal attempt by standout senior kicker C.J. Gradoville sail wide-left, the Falcons took advantage of a Lewis Central miscue on a punt return.

The Falcons took an early 6-0 lead when Tony Knotek fell on the ball in the Titan end zone after it was accidentally touched by one of the return backs. Place-holder Jake Hoffa recovered from a muffed snap from center to run the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion and extending the lead to 8-0.

The Falcons responded to Waters 70-yard strike in the third quarter with a solid drive, capped by Jeremy Schieffer's 18-yard run up the middle and Gradoville's extra-point kick.

The aggressive Falcon defense featured a number of blitz packages and some strong plays by the secondary, including an interception by Tucker at the Falcon goal line that ended a 13-play Titan drive.

"They had too much size up front," said Falcon coach Jim Duggan. "We had to gamble and our defensive strategy threw them off."

"Their defense loaded up the middle," said Sterbick, now in his third year at the helm of the Titans. "It made us throw the ball and that's the most we've thrown since I've been here."

The big plays belonged to the Titans, who recorded six sacks on the evening. Buck Morris led the Titan defenders with nine first-half tackles, including a sack. Housely also picked up two sacks. Riley Landolt made several big defensive plays including a fumble recovery that helped set up the Titan score at the end of the first half

"This one burns in your stomach but they made the big plays, especially by Waters," said Duggan. "We had our chances and we mis-communicated on the last play of the game. This game will motivate us the rest of the season."

Lewis Central 0 6 8 8 - 22

St. Albert 8 0 7 0 - 15

Rushing: Lewis Central 30-67, St. Albert 36-122.

Passing: Lewis Central 14-25-209-2-1, St. Albert 7-14-105-0-0.

Total Offense: Lewis Central 276, St. Albert 227.

Turnovers: Lewis Central 2, St. Albert 1.

Scoring Summary

St. Albert: Tony Knotek punt receive fumble recovery in the end zone (Jake Hoffa 2-point conversion run) 2:08 first quarter

Lewis Central: Jimmy Waters 20-yard pass to Jordan Besco (2-point conversion failed) 0:09 second quarter

Lewis Central: Jimmy Waters 70-yard pass to Jordan Besco (Waters pass to Dan DeVetter for 2-point conversion) 9:50 third quarter

St. Albert: Jeremy Schieffer 18-yard run (C.J. Gradoville kick) 4:39 third quarter

Lewis Central: Jimmy Waters 3-yard run (Waters pass to DeVetter for 2-point conversion) 8:14 fourth quarter.

Records: Lewis Central (1-0), St. Albert (0-1).