LIVERMORE FALLS – Livermore Falls wasn’t going to allow anyone to blow the team off of its own field, Mother Nature included.

After deferring the opening kickoff to the second half, the Andies chose to move the ball with the strong winds in the second and fourth quarters.

Brad Bryant and Ryan Webster each ran for more than 150 yards and scored two touchdowns to power Livermore Falls to a 28-6 victory over Lisbon in a Western Class C football semifinal Friday, setting up a rematch with rival Jay High School in next week’s regional final.

“This was a big gut check for us,” said Livermore Falls coach Brad Bishop. “I’ve been worried all week about how we’d play after that emotional loss to Jay last week, and the kids really bounced back well and played a great game.”

On the ground, the Andies racked up 321 total yards to Lisbon’s 87 despite earning just seven first downs all night. Bryant finished with 163 yards on 20 carries, while Webster chipped in with 152 yards on 16 carries.

“We had great blocking up front all night,” said Webster. “All we wanted was to come back so well after that loss last week, and we did that.”

The line did its share of blocking, but once both Webster and Bryant broke through the line, no one in the Lisbon secondary could catch up to them.

“Once the block was there we were gone,” said Webster.

“The running the boys did after getting hit the first time, that was tough to stop,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “Those are some great athletes, and once they got through that line, they just exploded.”

The only first downs the Andies earned in the first half were technical first down on two long touchdown runs.

On Livermore Falls’ first possession, after two short gains, Bryant broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run up the right side. Both teams went three-and-out on their next drives before Lisbon ran eight minutes off the clock with a drive and scored its only points of the game on a Maxx Hathaway quarterback sneak.

“They are such a strong team,” said Mynahan. “Once they got ahead we started to squeeze in a little bit and taking some chances we had to take to try and get back into it.”

Three plays following Lisbon’s score, Webster broke free for a 59-yard touchdown with 3:45 to play in the half, putting the Andies ahead 14-6.

In the second half, Webster scored late in the third quarter and Bryant followed with another in the fourth to put the game away.

In the second half, Livermore Falls’ defense held Lisbon to 14 total yards and forced the Greyhounds to punt three times.

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