By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

LISBON FALLS – Sixty-seven schools handed out helmets, sized up shoulder pads and began beating the daylights out of a blocking sled on Monday, August 15. Only six of them are still testing the limits of that equipment this week.

No team makes the transition from two-a-days to Super Saturday without becoming a family. What made the journey to the Class C football championship game even more rewarding for the Lisbon High School Greyhounds is that theirs is a blended family.

Four two-way contributors will block and tackle against Foxcroft Academy after not playing a single down of organized football last season.

Ineligibility and injuries prevented Josh Stevens, Shawn Fitzgerald, Jesse Walker and Matt Powell from unleashing their bark or bite for the ‘Hounds as juniors. With apologies to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, wild horses couldn’t drag them away from Saturday’s 6 p.m. kickoff against the Ponies.

“All year long, I was thinking football (and winning the) Gold Ball,” said Powell, a starting tight end whose hunger escalated when he missed four games due to injury this season. “I was hoping and praying we’d make it to state, and we did.”

Stevens spelled Powell at tight end, but made his mark for Lisbon’s top-rated defense, where he emerged as one of the premier pass rushers in the Campbell Conference.

Fitzgerald and Walker joined returning starters Elijah Trefts and Devan Knight on the offensive line, paving the way for explosive Levi Ervin and underrated fullback Dan Willis to amass more than 2,000 total yards on the ground.

“When (Ervin) springs for a touchdown, it’s awesome,” Walker said.

Lisbon was the pre-season favorite to win the Western Class C championship, but coach Dick Mynahan believes that chorus wasn’t so much an ode to the Greyhounds’ depth as a sign of respect to the two Division I college prospects, Ervin and Trefts.

The Greyhounds have played textbook power football and controlled the clock to complement a lights-out defense, with the four resurgent seniors playing an integral role.

“People thought we had a lot coming back, but we had Elijah and we had Levi coming back. We had three starters from last year’s team that opted not to play football this year,” Mynahan said. “These new kids came out and blended right into the line and obviously have made us a better team. They give us more balance than I think we’ve had in a while. We have strength on the left and right side. We’ve always been a one-sided team.”

That road to “balance” has been a two-way street.

All four newcomers agree that the motivation of senior football helped transform them into well-rounded students, even last year when there was no immediate gratification.

Stevens is one of the few Lisbon seniors who joined Trefts and Ervin on the field as a sophomore, when he was a part-time starter. He lost his academic eligibility prior to the regional title game, however, and wasn’t allowed to participate in Lisbon’s loss to Foxcroft in the state final.

“Last year, I missed it so much, and I worked so hard to do anything I could to be eligible. Football is the only sport I really do, so I give it all I’ve got,” Stevens said. “I regret (missing last season), but I really feel I’ve made up for it.”

There was no reluctance from other returning starters to extend the welcome mat to the new guys.

Early on, in fact, there were six key players who sat out last season. Knee injuries removed senior Carl Grady and junior Steve McKay from the mix.

“We’ve been friends since eighth grade, basically, all the seniors out here, and I think that unity is what brings this team together,” Fitzgerald said.

Powell didn’t make any tackles on the artificial turf at Fitzpatrick two years ago, but he soaked up enough of the ambiance to know that Saturday’s experience will bond him with this team for life.

“I was there. I was on the sideline,” Powell said. “I know what it’s like.”

Lisbon’s upstart four didn’t take a traditional route to the final. But that will make the lights a little brighter, the air a little crisper, the hits a little louder.

And you can bet they won’t regret one second spent in the fitness room or classroom that made it possible.