DIXFIELD – The Lisbon football team came out angry Saturday.

After a season opening loss to Dirigo, the Greyhounds entered their Western C semifinal with a chip on their well-padded shoulders.

After Dirigo’s first possession Saturday afternoon, Lisbon only became more furious.

“That made us mad, and we wanted to come back and punch it in,” said Lisbon’s senior back Josh Cote.

Lisbon did that and more. The Greyhounds answered with two touchdowns in the second quarter and gave the Dirigo offense fits in a 16-7 win.

“When you get beat the way we got beat in the first game, you have a long season to think about that,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “That was in our favor.”

The Cougars were held to just 24 total yards and three first downs, one in the entire second half. The rushing attack finished with minus eight yards.

“It was simple mistakes that we never make,” said Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert. “It was simple pass patterns. The kids know them. One time, we were running a waggle and (the quarterback) runs into the halfback and the fullback. They got easily rattled.”

That was the purpose of the Lisbon defense. The Greyhounds pressured the Cougar offensive line and dominated the line of scrimmage. Lisbon had nine sacks and had the Dirigo offense in panic mode for much of the game. Most times quarterback Nic Crutchfield had little time to think, let along make a play, before a Lisbon defender was in hot pursuit.

“We had to rush him,” said Cote. “Our linemen did an excellent job. We did exactly what we had to do. I couldn’t ask for anymore of a rush. We had to put some pressure on and force some throws. That’s what we did.”

Meanwhile, the Lisbon offense churned out enough yards to keep the Cougars off the field. The Greyhounds controlled the clock and the field position. Cote led the charge with 97 yards on 22 carries. Jake Cyr added 53 yards on 11 carries. Both had touchdowns for the Greyhounds.

“It was really important, the time of possession,” said Cote, who had been limited to playing just defense the last two games because of an ankle injury. “We knew we had to control that, especially because they have a great quarterback and great running backs.”

After Lisbon lost its first possession of the game on a fumbled pitch around midfield, the Cougars turned that into a 7-0 lead with 6:07 left in the quarter. Facing third-and-10, Crutchfield hit Alex Miele for a 32-yard pass play.

Dirigo’s offense had no success the rest of the way.

“We tried to do somethings different defensively,” said Mynahan. “We tried to shift around and see if we can find our way in. In the first game, they ran on us at will. We decided we were going to stop that middle give. That’s what we really wanted to do.”

The Cougars couldn’t muster a running game and was forced to look for the pass. Lisbon’s intense rush made that difficult, and if the Cougars found success, penalties often brought the play back.

“We couldn’t open our offense up,” said Gilbert.

Lisbon tied the game with 11:52 left in the half. The Greyhounds got the running game marching and produced a 60-yard drive. Cote finished it off with a 25-yard run, breaking numerous tackles along the way.

“It’s been a bad injury,” said Cote of his high ankle sprain. “Everybody’s got their aches and pains. You just have to be able to do the best you can.”

Lisbon made it 14-7 with 1:33 left in the half. A 66-yard drive, paced by the running attack, was finished off by Cyr with a nine-yard scamper down the right side.

“Starting the season, we started one returning lineman,” said Mynahan. “The linemen have worked so hard this year to make themselves better. I don’t think I’ve ever coached a bunch of kids that worked harder Monday through Thursday. That offensive line has gotten better and better.”

Lisbon didn’t get another touchdown but used its offense to eat up much of the clock in the second half. Dirigo had just five possessions in the entire half. The Cougars managed just one first down in the half, on the first possession. That drive stalled at the 39, and Dirigo totalled -25 in yardage after that.

“We didn’t get any three-and outs and that hurt,” said Gilbert. “We had a chance to pin them deep, but they’d drive out to midfield and pin us deep. That was the difference. Almost every possession in the second half, we were taking control inside our 20.”

The Cougars were down just one score with 5:52 left but started with the ball on their own six. Crutchfield was sacked by John Crafts and Cote for the safety.

“We tried to send somebody on their shotguns,” said Mynahan. “We sent Josh most of the time. He came in strong for us. Josh played like a senior that wanted to win the game, on both sides of the ball.”