By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

Dick Mynahan knows a leopard doesn’t change its spots. He’s not convinced a Seahawk changes its, uh, feathers, either.

The third-seeded Boothbay Seahawks threw their way into today’s Western Class C championship game with top-seeded Lisbon, which kicks off at 12:30 p.m. today at Thompson Field.

Quarterback Roy Arsenault tossed two touchdown passes and collected 171 yards through the air against Jay in the semifinals.

Blessed with good speed and a strong arm, the junior signal-caller emerged as the top quarterback in Western C this year.

“He’s a talented athlete,” Mynahan said. “He has a step when a step is needed. He can hurt you all the way around.”

Arsenault, plus big and talented receivers Pat Norton and Kris Noonan, made the passing game a factor at Boothbay this year. That’s a rarity in their double-wing offense. But the Seahawks are still a run first, ask questions later team.

“They have a solid running game, and that’s been their game forever. It’s hard to change that tendency,” Mynahan said.

Boothbay (7-3) doesn’t have a single dominant runner in the backfield, but Blake Krukiel, Costas Rigas and Wes Alley move the chains effectively.

Just how effectively they can do it against Lisbon’s defense is another question. Senior Elijah Trefts leads a defense that gave up the fewest points in the state this year, and hasn’t given up a point in 13 quarters.

Boothbay coach Tim Rice said the Greyhounds’ physical and fundamentally-sound play makes it tough for an offense to sustain long drives.

“I’m so impressed with the way their kids come downhill, the way they’re going north-south,” Rice said. “Their shoulder pads are always in a position where they can make a play.”

Lisbon (9-1) carries that physical and fundamental style over to the offense. Twelve-to-15-play drives are the Greyhounds’ specialty. Tailback Levi Ervin is as punishing a runner as their is in Western C, and he’s complemented well by Dan Willis, a big-play threat out the backfield, and QB Chris Brunick, who may be overshadowed by his counterpart, Arsenault, statistically, but makes plays when they’re needed.

“I don’t think we can go toe-to-toe with them because they’re physical up front,” Boothbay coach Tim Rice said. “They’ve got Elijah and their other linemen are good football players and we’re not overly big ourselves. Lisbon just does some things to you. They wear you out.”

The Greyhounds wore down the Seahawks in their first meeting, which was tied 6-6 in the fourth quarter before Lisbon exploded for 24 points in the final few minutes of the game to win, 30-6.

Mynahan thinks today’s game could be decided by a sudden shift in momentum, too.

“When two good teams like this play, it’s something that’s usually settled by something as simple as a penalty or a dropped ball,” Mynahan said. “Those penalties have stopped a lot of our drives, so we want to avoid penalties and we want to take care of the ball.”