LISBON FALLS — Finding the unsung hero in Lisbon’s football huddle is like trying to determine the happiest member in a group of eight co-workers who purchased a winning Powerball ticket and agreed to split the windfall evenly.

Everyone’s an over-achiever.

Wearing the Greyhounds’ gear means relishing the opportunity to exceed everyone’s expectations. Exhibiting gridiron wisdom beyond your years. Winning head-to-head battles against an opponent who outweighs you by 20, 30 or 50 pounds.

Two players who stand out, though, as the embodiment of the term “pleasant surprise” in this Western Class C championship season, especially in Saturday’s regional final victory over Boothbay, are Carl Grady and Mitch Harmon.

Grady, one of 19 sophomores on a roster top-heavy with 10th-graders, saved his most smothering day in the defensive backfield for the penultimate Saturday. Of his 11 tackles, three were solos, two terminating drives inside the Lisbon 20 in the first half.

“Nobody expected us to win today. Nobody expected us to make the playoffs,” said Grady, echoing a familiar refrain in the Lisbon locker room this fall. “But we’re still here.”

He reinforced that conviction in the second half, intercepting two passes. The first pick finished the third quarter and silenced another Seahawks foray into the end zone.

The second was one for the highlight film. Mike Norton made the apparent catch from Ryan Babcock at the Lisbon 35, but Grady timed the play perfectly and plucked it out of the senior tight end’s mitts.

“I knew they were going to come after me,” Grady said. “That’s fine. I love that.”

“That looked like a catch to me, and Carl just came up and took it away from him,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “For a sophomore, he’s a lot of fun to watch.”

Only four Lisbon players tip the scales at a lighter reading than Harmon’s 145 pounds, but the senior receiver and defensive back exacted a heavy toll on Boothbay.

Harmon made a dozen defensive stops, including one on third down of a goal-line stand in the second quarter. That set up a 96-yard scoring march in less than two minutes, culminating in Harmon’s 20-yard touchdown catch in traffic to tie the game at 6.

“Mitch wasn’t even supposed to get the ball,” said quarterback Chris Kates, “but the pocket kind of collapsed, so I just stepped up and tried to do something with it. It was a great catch.”

Greater still, considering it was only Harmon’s third grab of the year.

“Two catches. Both for five yards,” said Harmon. “I just wanted to do something to help the team win. I never gave up on the play.”

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