WALES — Faced with the injuries, ineligibility and other indignities that lurk in the Lisbon High School football camp every year, most Class C programs would buckle like a sumo wrestler’s couch.

Stretch and slap the Greyhounds, though, and they return to form with an elasticity that drives opponents bonkers.

Backup quarterbacks Zack Splude and Quincy Thompson engineered three consecutive touchdown drives in the second and third quarters Saturday afternoon, rallying Lisbon to a 24-14 season-opening victory over Oak Hill.

With junior starter Ryan Riordan (broken right hand) conspicuously outfitted in jeans, a jersey without pads and a cast on the Lisbon sideline, his understudies were dressed for short-notice success.

Splude, a senior initially penciled in as a first-year starter at tailback, delivered three long completions for 106 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown hookup with Cam Graf.

Thompson, a sophomore, had zero prior experience taking snaps. He rushed for a 31-yard TD and sprang the rest of the Greyhounds’ backfield by committee to substantial gains with his mastery of misdirection out of the wildcat formation.

“We had to change up a little bit, but we’re sticking to how we always do it. Same old team.” Splude said.

Lisbon rallied from early deficits of 7-0 and 14-6.

Its offensive resurgence coincided with an absolutely disastrous three minutes for Oak Hill at the start of the second half.

All told: Three snaps, three fumbles (two lost), a wasted timeout due to only 10 men in the huddle, quarterback Parker Asselin knocked out with leg cramps and center Mike Saunders sidelined with a cut on his arm.

“We fell apart,” Oak Hill coach Dave Wing said. “I don’t know what was up.”

The Greyhounds sniffed that uncertainty and went on the attack.

Oak Hill finished with five giveaways in all, furnishing the first while trying to expand a 14-6 lead late in the second quarter.

Dalton Dunphy connected with Asselin while the sophomore’s arm was in motion, forcing a floater that fell into the arms of Lisbon lineman Casey Garrison at the Lisbon 24 with three minutes left.

Lisbon needed only seven plays to cover that distance. Separate explosions by Thompson (15 yards), Mason Haley (13) and Jordan Torres (33) set up a 2-yard sneak by Splude.

“I got my team real fired up right before the end of the half, and we came out and got a ‘W.’ Young guys did their job today and stepped it up big for us,” Splude said.

Thompson’s two-point try fell a fingernail shy of the goal line, but the Greyhounds’ grasp of the new-look offense only strengthened during intermission.

Four plays after the second half kickoff, Splude lofted a ball to fellow senior captain Graf, who ran away from the fallen Raiders defender to give the Greyhounds their first lead.

Nate Gamache pounced on Oak Hill’s first bobbled snap of the half. Thompson soon capitalized with his long TD rush.

“We changed a few things, but mostly we came out and tried to do things better,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “We just had some bad things happen to us in the first half. First half we made a lot of mistakes ourselves, and second half they made a few.”

Due largely to the turnover troubles, Oak Hill saw three second-half drives stall in Lisbon territory.

Brandon Hovey intercepted a pass from freshman backup Alex Mace intended for Dylan Mulherin in the end zone. Kyle Sheehan smothered another bobbled exchange at the Lisbon 2.

“I think they’re mentally tougher than we are right now, so we have to fix that,” Wing said. “It showed. It paid off for them. We did not do the job, especially in the second half.”

Lisbon’s sluggish start included a high snap on a punt and another attempted Thompson punt that smacked blocker Splude in the helmet. Oak Hill inherited golden field position both times.

Cody DePuy (21 carries, 134 yards) put the Raiders on top with a 1-yard TD run on Oak Hill’s second series. Haley answered with a 24-yard scoring jaunt for Lisbon.

Cody Collingwood barreled in for a 2-yard score at 5:38 of the second quarter. Kyle Flaherty’s kick made it an eight-point Raiders cushion.

But Lisbon quickly reinvented itself in what has become the grueling, traditional season opener between two schools that lack those ubiquitous Friday night lights and sit about eight miles apart.

“This is a playoff game for us every single year,” Splude said. “It’s a big win for us today.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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