Boothbay coach Tim Rice doesn’t make any excuses. His Seahawks were flat-out beaten the last time they hooked up with the Lisbon Greyhounds.

“They handled us real well,” said Rice, who coached the Seahawks to back-to-back Class C championships the last two years. “They came in and were physical. They got Tony (Walker) established from the get-go and it was ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ from there.”

Three yards and a cloud of dust might have accurately summed up what you can expect Saturday afternoon, except that all the rain we’ve gotten lately has turned the Thompson Field dust to mud. The sentiment will be there, nevertheless. There won’t be a lot of finesse football going on in the regional championship game between two perennial small-school powers.

As Rice noted, Lisbon set the tone in the first game. Actually, each team’s first possession foreshadowed how the contest eventually unfolded. Boothbay opened the game by running the ball into Greyhounds territory, only to have the drive negated by an interception. Lisbon took over at its own 10 and ran the ball 14 straight times, with Walker pounding the ball through the heart of the Boothbay defense on 11 carries before fumbling at the Boothbay six.

The Seahawks weren’t able to recover from four interceptions, three by opposing quarterback and defensive back Chris Kates. The Greyhounds were able, however, to overcome another early fumble near the goal line and went on to win the game, 29-20, on the strength of 323 combined rushing yards from Walker (168), tailback John Tefft (113) and QB Kates (42).

“We were surprised by the yardage we got on the ground,” Mynahan said. “That week, our whole practice was dedicated to passing. We didn’t think we were going to be able to run against them.”

Instead, the Greyhounds only put the ball in the air twice all night.

“Tony was running at a different level than he’s probably run all year,” Mynahan said. “He was hitting that line really fast, and he became a power back that night, I think. My guess is that they’re going to try to take Tony away from us.”

If the Seahawks stack the defense inside to stop Walker, they can expect Lisbon to run the ball outside with Tefft, who had runs of 18, 31 and 42 yards in the last meeting. A lot of Tefft’s opportunities likely will come running the option with Kates, who ran for a couple of long gains of his own.

Kates also is adept at throwing the ball and has connected on a number of big plays to Tefft out of the backfield, as well as Derek Roy and Levi Ervin.

Boothbay has been on a tear ever since Lisbon beat them on their homecoming night, winning five in a row. The Seahawks are averaging 40.9 points per game this season, up to an astonishing 50.6 since the loss to to the Greyhounds. Last week in the semifinals, they shredded Jay for 446 yards, 423 on the ground, on their way to a 43-6 rout.

“We’ve simplified the game plan both offensively and defensively since then and let our kids play,” Rice said.

Four talented running backs chew up yardage for the Seahawks in their vaunted double-wing offense.

Senior Jon Farrin, who has 17 touchdowns on the season, rushed for a season-high 210 yards and four scores on 22 carries last week. D.J. Holcomb, a 220-pound junior, has 15 rushing TDs on the season.

Junior Jake Hodgdon is approaching double figures in touchdowns and rushed for 79 yards against the Greyhounds in the first game. Senior Justin Wood (141 yards, TD last week) has starred for the Seahawks since he was a freshman, though he’s been bothered by injuries throughout his career and saw limited action in the first meeting between the two teams.

“They have four backs that you have to be mindful of,” Mynahan said. “If we felt that one back was better than the other, maybe we could have a stronger side. But we feel like their backs are equal.”

While Lisbon held Boothbay’s running game to a season-low 206 yards last time, that number is a bit deceiving. First, the Seahawks were playing from behind and decided to go to the passing game early (15 pass attempts for the game) and more often than they’re accustomed. Still, they had four drives of 10 or more plays on the night. Three of those drives ended in touchdowns. The fourth ended deep in Lisbon territory on the last of Kates’ three interceptions.

“Last time, we stopped them through the air. I’m not so sure we’re going to have that luxury this time,” Mynahan said.

Mynahan believes the Greyhounds will have to take a few more chances defensively to keep the Seahawks from grinding it out, drive after drive.

“We’re going to try to take a little bit more advantage of our speed this time,” he said. “We’re going to have to do something different, because we had a hard time stopping them last time.”

Boothbay QB Ryan Babcock struggled against the Greyhounds last time (7-for-15, 74 yards, four INTs), but the Seahawks are capable of getting big plays from their passing game, whether running a waggle with one of their running backs or throwing downfield to Mike Norton, arguably the best tight end in the Campbell Conference.

Needless to say, Rice thinks it’s imperative for his team to improve in the turnover category.

“We can’t come out and make mistakes, not with Lisbon,” Rice said. “You make mistakes with Lisbon, you get into a lot of trouble.”

While the Greyhounds haven’t been piling up the points at the same rate as the Seahawks in the second half of the season, they have been just as dominant. The defense has tossed three shutouts in the last five weeks and has helped Lisbon outscore its opponents 170-12 over that span.

The Greyhounds, who are making their first appearance in the regional final since they last won the state title in 1997, counter Boothbay’s power with a quick front eight, with Walker and Roy capable of getting into the backfield.

Tefft and Kates lead a hard-hitting secondary, while sophomore defensive back Carl Grady, who recovered a fumble last week in a 26-0 semifinal win overLivermore Falls, has come on in the second half of the season.

No. 2 Stearns (9-1) at No. 1 Foxcroft (10-0)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Eastern Class C final

LTC fans have been pointing to this rematch ever since the two teams played a thriller back on Oct. 10. That’s when Foxcroft rallied from a 13-0 deficit to win, 14-13, on Bobby Gilbert’s two-yard TD run late in the third quarter.

The defending Eastern Maine champion Ponies also had to rally last week from a 7-0 deficit to MCI before scoring 41 unanswered points in a 41-7 win. QB Josh Withee went 6-for-8 for 98 yards and one TD and also ran for another score. FB Lincoln Robinson scored two TDs and ran for 51 yards.

Stearns faced a tougher test in its semifinal against Bucksport, winning 22-14, led by QB Derek DiFrederico, TB Matt Wark and FB Craig Cullen.

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