YARMOUTH — It was one of those plays that had coaches yelling, “Oh no !” at one moment, and screaming, “Oh yes!” the next.
Quincy Thompson zigged and then zagged and got some fine blocking in between. What started out to be a possible punt or a loss quickly turned into a crucial touchdown for Lisbon.
That score doubled the lead early in the second half Friday night and the Greyhounds never looked back in a 35-13 win.
“I just read it and if I think I can run the ball then I’ll take it,” said Thompson about his dropping back to punt. “I look at the first down marker and focus on that one spot and hope I get there.”
Up 14-7 to start the second half, Lisbon faced a fourth-and-nine from its own 37. Thompson was back to punt. He initially had a chance to kick it but Yarmouth quickly closed in. When Thompson made an evasive move, it appeared the Clippers had him in their sights. Then he made a quick cut and found a hole that sprung him for a 67-yard score.
“I always think kick first but once I see the hole, it’s an all out go,” said Thompson. “I had a kick , but I had the rush. I’d rather run than kick.”
Thompson finished with four touchdowns and 262 yards on 26 carries. Mason Haley added 100 yards on 15 carriers.
“I thought they both ran really hard, but we were seeing some nice blocking in the line of scrimmage,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “I think it was a full team effort. They get a little bit of the glory, but the line had some great blocks.”
It was a critical win for the 3-3 Greyhounds, who are trying to keep pace in the playoff hunt.
“Coming in, we knew we’re fighting to make the playoffs,” said Mynahan. “We started the season missing a lot of kids. We’d like to get in the playoffs and play one of the teams we played at the beginning of the season and see if we’ve improved and see if we’re a better team. We’re just fighting to try to get to the playoffs. So tonight was a playoff game for us.”
After the Thompson scored on that punt to make it 21-7. Lisbon made a defensive stop and then just pounded the ball on a lengthy drive. Thompson finished it off with a nice 27-yard run. He not only got a sizable hole at the line, he also got a pair of wonderful blocks down field. He ran between them for the score with 30 seconds left in the third.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a run like that at Lisbon,” said Mynahan. “It was pretty to see.”
Kyle Sheehan added a run from the 8 to make it 35-7 with 6:30 left in the fourth. Yarmouth added a late score on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brady Neujahr to Rhys Eddy.
Though Yarmouth fumbled the ball away on its first possession, it got the ball back soon enough and took the 7-0 lead with 2:33 left in the first. Caleb Uhl, whose missed most of the year with an injury, took it in from the 2. He finished with 135 yards on 14 carries for the Clippers (1-5).
Lisbon answered right back. the Greyhound line started to show some muscle while Thompson and Haley got the ground game going. Lisbon marched the ball downfield. Thompson took it in from the 11 to tie it with 11:21 left in the half.
“We ran hard today,” said Thompson. “We averaged about six or seven yards a carry. The line had great blocking.”
After forcing Yarmouth to punt, Lisbon produced another long drive with its ground game. Thompson punched it in from the 1 with 4:28 left for th3 14-7 lead.
“We weren’t sure if we could stop them,” said Mynahan. “At the beginning of the game we didn’t do a very good job. We knew they were good, but we did make some stops on defense. We had some guys that made some plays.”
Comments are no longer available on this story