LISBON — Fryeburg shut down Lisbon’s drives into the red zone and capitalized on its own scoring opportunities, and the Raiders earned a 24-8 victory Friday in the first night-time football game played at Lisbon High School.

Three times, the Greyhounds had the ball deep in Fryeburg territory, and three times they came up emptyhanded, while the Raiders were able to turn three of their red zone forays into touchdowns that were punctuated by two-point conversions.

The Raiders finally pulled away midway through the fourth quarter.

After a Lisbon punt early in the fourth, starting quarterback Gunnar Saunders led Fryeburg on a nine-play drive, all runs, that covered 57 yards. Saunders had seven of the carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle.

“He’s a physical kid,” Fryeburg coach David Turner said. “He can run, throw it, and I was happy with our offensive line. They were physical and they kept pounding at us, but we pounded back. I was proud of our line and all the guys.”

Saunders, who finished with 89 yards rushing, then passed to Caleb Micklon for the 2-point conversion, pushing Fryeburg’s lead to 24-8 with 5:59 remaining in the game.

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Fryeburg’s defense then forced Lisbon into a turnover on downs.

The Greyhounds had one more red zone experience late in the fourth quarter when they recovered a fumble at the Fryeburg 16 with about 30 second remaining, but Micklon intercepted a pass with 11 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Lisbon’s offense picked up multiple first downs in the second half, but struggled with cramping and on converting on fourth-down plays.

“I think we got worn down a little bit, and I thought we weren’t quite as physical in the second half, and so that falls on me,” Lisbon coach Chris Kates said. “I need to condition them a little better and get them ready to play a full game.”

Lisbon ran for 158 yards in the first half, but was held to 42 in the second. 

“I thought we were being physical and running the ball well,” Kates said of Lisbon’s first half. “It was still a lot of penalties on our end, and we need to clean that up. I thought we were doing well at the point of attack and stringing together some good drives there.”

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FRYEBURG FARES WELL IN FIRST HALF

The Raiders got on the scoreboard first surviving a long Lisbon drive that covered 14 players and reached the Fryeburg 25-yard line.

The Raiders drove 75 yards down the field, the final 10 yards a touchdown run by Micklon on a sweep to the left. Saunders ran the ball up the middle for the 2-point conversion and Fryeburg led 8-0 with 7:54 to play in the first half.

“He played well,” Turner said of Micklon. “He had the scoring run, he had the pick (in the fourth quarter). He got out on the sweep and we had great blocks on that play.”

On Lisbon’s next drive, Colby Levasseur gained 27 yards on four carriers to set up a long touchdown run by quarterback Jimmy Fitzsimmons.

Fitzsimmons scrambled to his left and turned up field, evaded a tackle about 10 yards later, then broke free for a 43-yard scoring scamper. Levasseur ran in the conversion to tie the game 8-8 with 5:24 left on the clock.

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Levasseur ran 15 times for 68 yards in the first half. He finished with 86 yards on the ground.

Lisbon forced a punt on Fryeburg’s next drive and again marched down the field, reaching the red zone for the second time in the game. However, Owen Galligan intercepted a pass at the Fryeburg 5-yard line and returned it all the way down to Lisbon’s 19 with only 17 seconds on the clock.

Fryeburg backup quarterback Cohen Carter threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Micklon as time expired to give the Raiders a 16-8 lead and momentum at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Lisbon’s Jayden Camp picked off Fryeburg on the goal line to prevent a touchdown in the third quarter, but Lisbon punted a few plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, setting up the Raiders’ final scoring drive.

Playing in the first game under the new lights at Thompson Field, which has long been known as a place for Saturday afternoon football, added an element that both teams had to work through.

“We hung in there,” Turner said. “It’s the first night game here, and I’ve never played in a night game here, so it’s crazy. We have to get over that and we’re still developing. We have a lot of pieces that are getting better and it’s been a process. We’re getting better every week, and we’re nowhere near where we need to be, but we hung in there against a team at home that was physical. We just got more breaks than they did.”

“It was a great experience with the first night game at Lisbon, but I think we improved from last week,” Kates added. “We’re playing a lot of young kids because of injuries and so we want to get better every week, and I think we accomplished that. We just need to keep on that path next week.”

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