LAKEVILLE - If Jack Whalen could bottle what his defensive unit does in the red zone, believe him, he'd do it.

Until then, it's just going to have to remain one of those sweet and welcome mysteries of life, especially after his Seekonk High football team's 17-7 victory Saturday over Apponequet to improve to 2-0 in the South Coast Conference race.

"I wish I could answer that," Whalen said when asked how his team could be outgained by 76 yards and still win by 10 points. "And they've been like that all year. Even back to the first game, we started on the 14-yard line against Norton (in the rain-delayed resumption of the opener). As many sophomores and juniors as we start on defense, if you start on the 14-yard line, you assume you're down 7-0."

But the Warriors held firm in that game, holding Norton scoreless before losing in overtime, and their penchant for coming up with the big stop has become a trademark.

Saturday, the hometown Lakers posted 249 yards on the ground, including 104 on 15 carries by halfback Zack Nanfelt and another 96 on 12 carries by fullback Joe Bianchini. But when it came time for the Lakers to go for the kill, they couldn't get the job done against a stout Seekonk red-zone defense. Of four penetrations of the Seekonk 20-yard line, the Lakers scored on only one - an 11-yard sweep by Nanfelt with 6:22 left in the first half to end a possession that began on the Seekonk 17 after a deflected punt.

Earlier, an 11-play march ended in frustration. Nanfelt's 11-yard carry gave Apponequet a first down at the Seekonk 6, but Matt Lockwood stuffed him for a loss of one on the first play, Tyler Viera and Anderson combined to halt Steven Laraia for no gain, Lockwood sacked quarterback Matt Schell for a loss of nine and Kevin Pomerleau knocked away a pass intended for Matt Jablonski on the fourth-down try.

That ignited something in the Seekonk offense, which put 14 unexpected points on the board in the last 3:44 of the half.

On a fourth-and-7 play, halfback Joe Teixeira took a pitchout from Jake Lyman and waited for Pomerleau to get free from cursory defensive attention, releasing the 41-yard bomb just as he was hit. Pomerleau made the catch and a nifty sidestep move to get free of the last defender and into the end zone to tie the score.

Then, after the first of Lyman's two interceptions gave Seekonk the ball at its own 42, Anderson ran a nifty reverse around right end and into the clear, Alex Sawyer adding the extra point for a 14-7 lead with 1:03 left in the half.

"We tried to trick them some with those plays," said Whalen, admitting that they went into the playbook the night before the game. "Sometimes young teams need to do that."

Apponequet was thwarted on its first two possessions of the second half. On the ninth play of a drive that started on the Laker 11, running back Nate Michael appeared touchdown-bound on run that started at the Seekonk 26, but the ball was batted out of his hands and rolled free until Seekonk's Andy Killian smothered it at the Seekonk 5.

Apponequet got the ball back at the Seekonk 25 after a three-and-out, but on third-and-goal from the 6, Lyman intercepted a pass in the end zone intended for Jablonski, and another bullet was deflected.

A major face mask penalty against the Lakers on a 6-yard run by Teixeira (16 carries, 103 yards) brought Seekonk deep into Apponequet territory with the clock winding down, and Sawyer put the icing on the cake with a 35-yard field goal into the wind with 2:53 left.

"The future's bright for us," said Whalen. "The kids couldn't play any harder for us, and any time we can get out of here with a win, we'll take it." Seekonk (2-1, 2-0) is scheduled to visit Old Rochester on Friday night, but the current threat of mosquito-borne illness on the South Coast could prompt rescheduling.