Lisbon didn’t complete a down-and-distance pass on Saturday. It didn’t matter for the Greyhounds, who ran the ball and ran it well.

They won.

Greely used a similar run-heavy offense Friday night. The Rangers won as well, beating Leavitt in Turner.

The calendar has flipped to October and some teams are figuring out that if keeping the ball on the ground works, then why even put it in the air?

The Greyhounds tried throwing the ball on a fourth-down play early in the second quarter of their 36-14 win over Oak Hill. The pass was knocked down and they turned the ball over on downs. They went to the ground on a fourth-down play on the their next drive, and that was stopped as well.

Instead of going back to the pass, Lisbon instead just adjusted to a better run formation. The Greyhounds didn’t pass again, save for two-point conversion plays.

Lisbon ran the ball 53 times in total, and 23 of those runs went for at least 5 yards.

“The past two weeks we’ve been a very physical team,” said Lisbon sophomore Lucas Francis, who had a team-high 20 carries against Oak Hill. “We’ve been hitting hard.”

The physical battle did in Leavitt the night before in its 38-20 setback to the Rangers.

“That’s the way they play. That’s the way they beat us in the playoffs last year,” Hornets coach Mike Hathaway said of Greely. “We tried to stack the box as best we could, but ultimately, they’re bigger and older.”

“We run power football. That’s what we do,” Greely coach David Higgins said.

The Rangers passed the ball nine times, with just three completions. They ran the ball 43 times for 226 yards.

A week before, Dirigo threw the ball twice (with one completion for a touchdown), while running it 27 times for 236 yards in a win over Maranacook.

“We put in some power football plays,” Dirigo coach Jim Hersom said, “and we just wanted to establish ourselves physically at the point-of-attack.”

For what it’s worth, Oak Hill also had a power-running game plan for its matchup with Lisbon, but falling behind forced the Raiders to pass — which isn’t their strength.

To punt or not to punt

Lisbon shouldn’t have been fooled.

With Oak Hill stopped on third down at its own 40-yard line and only needing 3 yards for a first down, punter Steve Gilbert was sent back behind the line to kick the ball away. When Gilbert received a long snap earlier in the game he started to run forward before getting off a rugby-style punt.

When Gilbert, who is also the Raiders’ top running back, received a second long snap from his own 40, he took off running again, but there was no rugby punt. Instead, he ran for 9 yards and a first down.

Mountain of momentum

It was only a month ago that Spruce Mountain had 55 points dropped on it by Cape Elizabeth, dropping the Phoenix to 1-2 early in the season.

Since then, it’s been the Phoenix running over opponents, scoring 51, 46 and 41 points during a three-game wining streak. And they’ve given up a grand total of six points in that stretch, including two straight shutouts.

Spruce Mountain (4-2) has now jumped into third place in Class C South, right behind the two teams to beat the Phoenix — Cape Elizabeth and Wells.

They’re not guaranteed to to stay there, however. The Phoenix finish the regular season against Class B Leavitt at home, then Mountain Valley on the road in Rumford. The Hornets are 1-5, but can’t be overlooked.

The Falcons, just a game behind Spruce Mountain at 3-3, got their season back on track with a 42-7 win at Freeport on Saturday. Mountain Valley next plays 1-5 Poland before a clash with Spruce Mountain to end the regular season.

Wells and Cape Elizabeth meet in the season’s final week to determine who gets Class C South’s top seed. The matchup of Mountains — Spruce and Valley — could be a battle for the No. 3 seed, and a home playoff game to start the postseason.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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