PORTLAND – Lisbon High School and Foxcroft Academy have never played a Class C football championship game without drama, and sure enough, the familiar foes triggered a few heart palpitations Saturday afternoon.

For two minutes.

The rest of the game, the rest of the day and the rest of this season belonged exclusively, unequivocally, to the Greyhounds. In an autumn defined by dynamic defense, Lisbon saved its most impressive performance for last, overpowering the Ponies at every turn in a 30-14 victory at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

Lisbon forced three turnovers, sacked Foxcroft quarterback David White four times and permitted a paltry 70 yards to put a stamp on its 21st consecutive victory and second straight Gold Ball.

Dan Willis topped that by himself in the first half alone. The senior finished with 34 carries, 126 yards and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Mike Unterkoefler (7-of-10, 129 yards) completed touchdown passes to Ben Bourgoin and Zach Bubar.

“This was the perfect season. Miracles happen,” Willis said. “It wasn’t just one person. Big plays happen because the whole team does its job.”

Lisbon (12-0) captured its eighth overall state championship.

The Greyhounds also defeated Foxcroft in 1997 and 2005. Neither one of those teams went undefeated.

“There is no comparison at all with last year,” said linebacker Jesse Moan. “One, I’m a senior, and two, we’re undefeated. We’re the first 12-0 team in Lisbon history.”

Unlike last November, Foxcroft didn’t force Lisbon to deliver a goal-line stand in the final minute to secure the title. But the Ponies (11-1) did their part to give the Greyhound partisans a brief bout with heartburn in the second half.

Bubar appeared to put it away with a 49-yard slant-and-go from Unterkoefler to punctuate Lisbon’s first possession of the second half. Unterkoefler rushed for the two-point conversion and a 20-0 advantage with 8:54 remaining in the third quarter.

Joe Stevens picked off White to stop Foxcroft’s next march at the Lisbon 22-yard line. Six plays and four valuable minutes later, Stevens, filling in for injured punter Nate Blackwell, kicked away. The punt was negated by a procedure penalty against Lisbon, however, and Foxcroft sophomore Wade Witham blocked the second try to give the Ponies first-and-goal at the 10.

It took all four downs, but Foxcroft finally found the end zone on a 10-yard completion from White to Dan Rosebush. Bubar blocked the extra point bid.

Lisbon bobbled the ensuing kickoff, and the loose football squirted into the hands of Adam Leprevost at the 28. That set up a 2-yard run by Brad Bellemare (13 rushes, 33 yards) with 11:27 to go, and Bellemare’s two-point rush pulled the Ponies within six.

“It looked at that point like it might come down to the final play again or be a one-point game,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “I’m glad it didn’t.”

After seeing its championship journey switch gears from cruise control to rush hour in the blink of an eye, Lisbon just as quickly turned on a dime and set the stage for its victory lap. The Greyhounds regained command with a vintage, 13-play, seven-minute march. Lisbon converted a pair of third downs with strikes from Unterkoefler to Bubar (30 yards) and Stevens (10). Unterkoefler later turned fourth-and-inches into first-and-goal with a quarterback sneak.

Three plays later, Willis followed right tackle for three yards and leaped into the end zone with 4:31 remaining.

“You can’t make mistakes in a game against the Western Maine champion,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “We basically gave them the game in the first half. We worked hard to come back, but the end result is that it wasn’t enough.”

Pinned at its own 4 after a coffin corner kickoff, Foxcroft gained only one additional first down before Lisbon landed the knockout punch. Bubar, Scott Wing and Devan Knight sacked White on three consecutive plays. Knight’s stop was good for a safety with 1:56 to play.

White was 4-of-9 through the air for 36 yards. Lisbon smothered a team that rushed for 3,000 yards during the Little Ten Conference campaign to a fraction more than one yard per carry.

“The seniors got together as a group and watched Foxcroft’s game films on Tuesday. We knew what they were going to do every time,” said linebacker Ryan Giusto.

Foxcroft fumbled five times in the first half. Lisbon’s Steve Michaud recovered two of them. The first turnover came on a punt return and led to a 3-yard TD run by Willis.

Solo tackles by Moan and Michaud pinned Foxcroft deep in its own territory late in the half, and Lisbon cashed in fabulous field position after a punt into a second score.

Bourgoin made a brilliant diving catch underneath the goalposts with 20.7 seconds remaining in the half.

“I’m always diving and knocking myself out in practice, and Coach tells me to stop,” Bourgoin said. “I guess it worked out this time.”

Just the way it worked for Lisbon from two-a-days to the final kneel down.

“These kids had high expectations for themselves when we started in August,” Mynahan said, “but I’m not sure anybody really believed we would be here.”