BOW – The end zone was in his sights and Jack Baumann had to get there.

Bow and John Stark are two of the most evenly matched teams in Division II, and both head coaches predicted a low-scoring, tight contest. Any single opportunity to score could win or lose the game.

Stark quarterback Parker McQuarrie found Baumann open on a slant route midway through the third quarter for a 23-yard touchdown, Kayden Easter kicked the ball through the uprights for the extra point and Stark held on for a 7-6 win over the Falcons on a clear Saturday afternoon at Bow High.

“That’s all I had in my mind is: ‘I need to score this right now,’ ” said Baumann, who finished with three catches for 75 yards and picked off a pass on defense.

The win should lock Stark (6-1) into the playoffs. The Generals play Hanover next weekend to close out the regular season.

The future is less certain for Bow (5-2). The Falcons will be in a must-win situation when they host Lebanon next Saturday.

“We know we have one game left for sure,” Bow Coach Paul Cohen said. “If we fail on that attempt, we know we’re done. Even if we win next week, there’s no guarantee.”

The Falcons struck first in the second quarter thanks to a 7-yard sprint to the end zone by Tanner Cammett. But the kick for the extra point missed wide and Bow settled for a 6-0 lead.

“I hoped that wouldn’t hurt us later in the game, and surely enough, that was the difference, ” Cohen said. “Having said that, we had multiple opportunities where the defense did a great job and we were able to start moving things along, but we were just way too inconsistent.”

Stark punted from the 2-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half, giving Bow the ball 30 yards from the end zone. The Generals were pinned up against their own end zone after Ben Kimball sacked McQuarrie for a loss of 14 yards.

The Falcons hoped to at least reach field goal range and take a two-possession lead into halftime, but Baumann intercepted Bow quarterback Matt Harkins on their first play.

“That really changed the game for us,” Baumann said. “It brought us up to a better level right at the half.”

“(Bow was) going in to score, and that would have been huge,” Stark Coach Rod McQuarrie said. “That puts you in quite a hole. But that was a big play and I knew we were going to need to make some big plays against this team.”

Bow still held a 6-0 lead and took possession to start the second half, but Cohen could sense the momentum shifting to the Stark sideline after the interception.

“We were hoping to get another touchdown before the half because that certainly would have swung momentum in our favor,” Cohen said. “At this level, momentum is that intangible factor week in and week out that can literally make or break a game.”

Bow went three-and-out in its first two possessions of the second half. John Stark converted one first down before punting on its first drive.

The Generals got the ball back with 6:22 left in the third quarter after Jacob Cole returned a punt 25 yards to the Bow 35. Cole (23 carries, 80 yards) moved the ball 12 yards on two rushes, bringing Stark up to the 23 where McQuarrie connected with Baumann for a touchdown.

“Baumann has been huge for us all season,” Coach McQuarrie said. “We had him open a couple times where we missed him. Just that type of player for us, a playmaker.”

When the Generals look back on this season, Saturday’s win over Bow and the 16-14 comeback win over Laconia in September will stick out as the important victories that almost got away.

“I’m not sure what it is about us,” Coach McQuarrie said. “We play steady with everybody. Obviously we’re not a blowout team. But it’s us and Bow and it’s been (that way) for years. They’re always tough.”

He continued: “It’s Bow. A lot of these kids … we’ve been playing Bow since the kids were playing for the seventh and eighth grade championship on this exact field. We don’t forget. We know the faces, we know the coaches. Anytime you come to Bow it’s big, especially when you leave with a win.”