LISBON FALLS – Instead of feeling frustrated over some squandered opportunities in the first half of Saturday’s game with Dirigo, Lisbon decided it had another 24 minutes to turn the tables.

The Greyhounds scored on their first two possessions of the second half to break open a tight game and hand a feisty Dirigo squad its first loss of the season with a 21-0 decision at a typically toasty Thompson Field.

Lisbon held a slim 7-0 lead at halftime despite starting every possession in Dirigo territory, but coach Dick Mynahan chalked it up to a resilient Cougar defense.

“The first half we put ourselves in a good position a couple of times, and we didn’t follow through,” Mynahan said. “But when you’re playing aggressively, you can accept that a little easier. We were playing hard. That’s just a part of football. You have to rebound, and I thought the character test was to come out in the second half, and I was real happy with the way we came out in the second half.”

Dan Willis ran for 168 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and led a Lisbon defense that yielded just 63 total yards to the Cougars.

“We wanted to make a statement – try to pitch a shutout. This is a good team we just played. They beat Madison last week pretty good, so we just came out ready to play,” Willis said.

Dirigo (1-1) had its hands full with Willis and fellow linebackers Jesse Moan, Ryan Giusto and Derick Bolton. Lisbon blitzed its linebackers frequently in the first quarter, and when they weren’t dropping Cougar ballcarriers for losses or no gain, linemen Steve Michaud and Devan Knight were. The Cougars tallied just 37 yards on 37 carries and three first downs for the game.

The Cougars didn’t pick up a first down in the first 16 minutes of the game and had to adjust to the blitzing linebackers. It was a moot point once they did, though, because they fumbled on back-to-back possessions.

“It was field position. We started three drives inside of our own 20,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “That hurts because it limits your offense. I couldn’t open the offense up because of the bad field position.”

Bad field position and turnovers just added to the burden on the Dirigo defense. The unit gave up just 120 total yards to Madison and was up for the challenge again Saturday. It halted Lisbon possessions at its own 43 (three-and-out), 20 (fumble) and 45 (three-and-out) before the Greyhounds finally broke the ice on a 10-yard TD pass from Mike Unterkoefler to Joe Stevens 2:29 into the second quarter.

That score didn’t open the floodgates, though. The Greyhounds (2-0) knocked at the door one more time, driving down to the Dirigo 2 on their next possession, but on 4th-and-goal, Pat O’Leary caught Unterkoefler from behind for a 6-yard loss.

Another sack on Lisbon’s next possession, this one shared by Dakota Holmquist and Keith Gaudet, stymied a drive at the D-23 and helped set up the what appeared to be the breakout play Dirigo’s offense was waiting for, a 66-yard TD pass from Holmquist to Josh Daley. The play was called back, however, for an illegal block in the back.

Lisbon finally had to set up in its own territory to start the second half, but still enjoyed good field position, at the 43. Five plays later, Willis beat Dirigo defenders to the left sideline, then cut back inside at the 20 for a 47-yard TD run that made it 13-0.

“The blocking around the corner came up perfect,” Willis said. “Joe (Stevens) and Steve McKay came around the corner on this pull, hit the ends, left a seam and all there was was the safety to beat.”

Stevens (six carries, 61 yards) added a nice cutback run of his own for a 13-yard TD that put the game out of reach. Dirigo had its best chance to score after Josh Daley recovered a fumble at Lisbon’s 10 early in the fourth quarter. A dropped pass at the 1 and a pass into the end zone that was broken up by Stevens preserved the shutout.