LIVERMORE FALLS – Had Vince Lombardi or Woody Hayes been watching Friday’s football game at Griffin Field, they would have cracked a smile.

The Madison Bulldogs and Livermore Falls Andies put on a classic display of good old power football as the two teams pounded each other for 48 minutes. There were no fancy gadget plays, nor any beautiful passes.

Both teams rushed for over 200 yards and three different running backs exceeded the 100-yard mark. By the time the dust settled, it was the Andies who emerged with a 25-20 win.

“They’ve got a tough team,” said Livermore Falls coach Brad Bishop. “This is the third time (in three years) they’ve played us tough. There are going to be bumps in the road; tonight we had just enough defense to win it.”

Brad Bryant led all rushers with 153 yards on 21 carries. His three first-half touchdowns helped the undefeated Andies (5-0) take a 25-14 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs (2-3) caught a break on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter as defensive back Josh Paine scooped up an Andie fumble and scampered 33 yards for the score. For the rest of the third quarter, the Bulldogs owned the edge at the line of scrimmage. Fullback Tony Fortin (25 carries for 113 yards) and tailback Woody Noyes (28-134) continually moved the chains up and down the field with a “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense, but the Andies were able to shut down three different drives that ended on their side of the 50.

The biggest play of the game was made by Livermore Falls defensive tackle Mike Durrell. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore stopped Noyes on fourth and 4 from the Andie 24 on the first play of the fourth quarter. He tossed a blocker aside and tackled Noyes two yards shy of the marker. That play seemingly put an end to the Bulldogs’ momentum and they never seriously threatened after that.

“I just did my job,” said Durrell with dirt and sweat covering his face and his uniform. “I had to tackle him and I did.”

This game began one-sided as Bryant ripped off a 54-yard touchdown on his second carry of the game. On the Andies’ second drive, he went up the middle from four yards out to give his team a 13-0 lead.

The Bulldogs, however, stormed back as Fortin and Noyes alternated carries on a 12-play, 65-yard drive which Fortin put the finishing touches to with a 17-yard score as he leaped over Bryant at the 10 before taking the ball to paydirt.

A bad long snap on fourth down deep in Madison territory set up a six-yard score by Livermore Falls’ Ryan Webster early in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs had an answer for that score as Noyes took the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to set up another Madison touchdown. This time it was Noyes scoring from 10 yards out.

Bryant’s 36-yard run in the final minute of the first half completed the scoring for Livermore Falls.

“We’ve moved the ball well on teams all year long,” said Madison coach Joe Hayden, proud of his team’s effort. “For some reason bad luck follows us. We either have penalties or mistakes and then we get down. This game we didn’t.”