The play that turned another grueling installment of the Route 9 rivalry in the undefeated Raiders’ direction was a rare one in which the Greyhounds veered a different way.

Connor Elwell jarred the ball loose from Tyler Halls’ grasp on an option keeper midway through the second quarter. Steven Gilbert cradled up the friendly hop and scampered 67 yards for a game-tying touchdown. The emotional lift led to another Oak Hill score right before the half and set the tone for a 27-18 triumph.

“I just saw Tyler rolling out, and I knew I had to make a play,” Elwell said. “I hit him, and the next thing I knew I saw Steven running down the sideline with the ball in his hand.”

Connor Nilsson caught two touchdown passes from Dalton Therrien, who combined for 155 yards passing and running and rushed for another score in the Raiders’ 16th consecutive victory.

Oak Hill (6-0) clinched home field advantage for the playoffs in pursuit of a third consecutive state title. The Raiders are undefeated in seven games against Lisbon (3-2) dating back to 2012.

“Those are two programs where the kids work hard in practice, work hard in the offseason, and it showed,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said.

Francis carried 32 times for 127 yards and a touchdown for Lisbon, which ran 77 plays to Oak Hill’s 38 as a direct result of his grind-it-out success.

Halls had a quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 25-yard scoring connection with Tyrese Joseph.

“We wanted to improve on our offense. We hadn’t been doing very well with it lately, and I thought the kids worked really hard out there today,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “Oak Hill is a good team. I thought maybe the last three minutes of the first half turned things their way, but we got back up and had a good second half.”

Francis capped a 16-play, 69-yard excursion with a 4-yard dive to land Lisbon a 6-0 lead with 8:40 remaining in the first half.

After two fruitless Oak Hill drives, one ending in a Jared Glover fumble recovery and another three-and-out, the Greyhounds were on the move again. Lisbon mixed it up with Francis, Halls and Henry Adams in a march to the Oak Hill 31.

Then came the scoop-six. Gilbert, a junior, struggled for the first half of the season with nagging injuries and took most of his snaps Saturday on defense.

“Steven needed a big play this year,” Nilsson said. “He needed confidence, and that right there did it.”

Oak Hill rode that momentum to another quick stop, highlighted by Matthew Strout’s sack of Halls, and then ran the two-minute drill to perfection.

Therrien was 5-for-5 to four different receivers on the drive. With Lisbon closely shadowing his favorite target, Jonah Martin, the unsung trio of Darryn Bailey. Colby Spencer and Nilsson found seams.

Pass interference moved the ball to the Lisbon 12 and set up Nilsson’s first scoring grab with 35 seconds remaining in the half. Therrien rushed for the two points and a 14-6 lead.

“This is my senior year. I’ve got to do the best I can to execute,” Nilsson said. “We practiced for that (coverage), and it was on me to get open. One of the strengths of our team is our wide receivers and our passing game.”

Spencer knocked down a pass to stop Lisbon’s opening drive of the second half on downs at the Oak Hill 26. Lisbon’s next series ended with a snap over the head of punter Halls for a 21-yard loss.

Three plays later, Oak Hill scored again. Nilsson snared a quick-out from Therrien on the Lisbon sideline, spun around, knocked down two would-be tacklers and finished off the 24-yard TD.

“Dalton has complete control of the offense,” Doucette said.

Lisbon needed seven minutes to drive 53 yards in the fourth quarter. Halls punched it in on fourth down, and Elwell stuffed the two-point rush to keep it a two-possession game with 1:57 left.

The Greyhounds’ onside kick failed to travel the required 10 yards. Therrien applied the exclamation point with a 20-yard throw to Martin and a 25-yard keeper for six.

Joseph completed the scoring with three consecutive catches from Halls, capped by the TD with 11 seconds to go.

Too little, too late.

“The fumble turned things around,” Mynahan sald. “We were on a drive there, and if we could have gone up at that point, I think it would have been important for us. No one play controlled the game.”

And in recent years, when one play is needed to put away a tense game in the Campbell Conference, Oak Hill usually delivers.  Saturday was no exception.

“We always have a target on our back,” Nilsson said. “You have to be prepared because they can put up points quick. They have a great offense, great defense, great coach, great team overall.”

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