LISBON FALLS – Whether it’s the first game of regular season or the start of the postseason, 34-0 looks pretty good on a scoreboard when you’re on the winning end.
Lisbon liked the looks of their 34-0 win over Livermore Falls in Week 1 so much that they decided to do it again yesterday in the Western Class C semifinals.
The top-seeded Greyhounds (9-1) will host No. 3 Boothbay in the regional final next Saturday at 12:30.
The fourth-seeded Andies (5-5) were one of the most improved teams in Western C heading into yesterday’s tilt, but the Greyhounds showed they haven’t exactly been stagnant themselves by putting together two long scoring drives together early, coming up with a big stop late in the first half, then dominating the final 24 minutes to pull away.
“At the beginning of the year, we were a young team. A lot of people don’t realize that,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan.
“We have five people on this first team that didn’t play football last year. So we’ve done a lot of improving.”
“We came from an 0-3 hole (to make the playoffs), but that’s a very good football team right there,” Andies coach Brad Bishop said. “I’ve gotta believe right now that they’re the best team here in the West.”
Lisbon’s defense, which has not been scored upon in 13 quarters, limited Livermore’s punishing running attack to just 130 yards. The starting defense yielded just 76 yards before giving way to the second string in the fourth quarter.
The offense, meanwhile, held the ball for nearly 12 minutes on just two first-half drives (they ran out the clock on the third possession). The first drive, an 11-play, 60-yard march, burned off five minutes and ended with an 18-yard TD pass from Chris Brunick to Nick Adams.
“The first drive is always a big drive for us. When you can score on the first drive, it just shows you’re well-focused and you’re ready for the game,” Mynahan said. “It’s an emotional lift whenever you can do it.”
Adams intercepted Andies QB Mike Nichols on Livermore Falls’ next series, setting up a 15-play, 63-yard drive that ate up just under seven minutes and ended with a one-yard dive into the end zone by Levi Ervin (31 carries, 111 yards, three TDs) that put Lisbon up, 14-0.
The Andies came out angry for their next drive and, behind fullback Ryan Webster (21 carries, 80 yards), pounded down to the Greyhound 10. But on fourth-and-two, Shawn Fitzgerald dropped Webster for a one yard loss to end the Andies’ best scoring threat.
“I told the kids, going into halftime, there’s nothing that lifts a team more when you score before the half,” Mynahan said. “It’s also tough not to score when you’ve come that far just before the half.”
The Greyhounds broke the game open in the third quarter as Ervin scored first on a four-yard TD run then, after Dan Willis recovered a fumble on the kickoff, from a yard out, to make it 27-0. Joe Stevens added an 18-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
“We tried a little bit of everything we had, and it just wasn’t good enough,” Bishop said. “I’m still proud of our team.”
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