Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

The Lisbon Greyhounds had just finished the regular season and, only moments after demolishing Winthrop in the season finale, were turning their focus to the playoffs when coach Dick Mynahan spoke the most chilling words uttered in the Campbell Conference.

“All year, we’ve been holding back Levi, giving him 14 or 15 carries. But I told Levi (Ervin) when it got down to crunch time, he was going to have to carry the ball 25 times, 35 times for us,” Mynahan said.

Got that? The Greyhounds were undefeated. Ervin was on the verge of rushing for nearly 2,000 yards. And Ervin hadn’t even put his running shoes on yet. How would you like to have been Livermore Falls or Jay or Boothbay and have that to look forward to in the playoffs. Ervin, a three-year, two-way starter, was a rarity at Lisbon – a feature back. Mynahan usually likes to split the rushing duties among at least two mail carriers. But Ervin’s talents as a runner and receiver were so rare that the Greyhounds would have been investigated had they not run their offense through him.

Even though Mynahan was careful not to wear down Ervin during the regular season, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior compiled workhorse-like numbers over the course of the 2005 season. He ran for 1,913 yards and 28 touchdowns. He led Lisbon with 16 catches at a 12.5 yard per clip. He was a tone-setting, hard-hitting safety on a defense that gave up the fewest points in the state. His blocking helped spring teammate Dan Willis for 900 yards rushing.

More importantly, certainly to Ervin, was that he led the Greyhounds to the Class C state championship over Foxcroft Academy just two years after losing to the Ponies in the title game. He also earned Campbell Conference Player of the Year honors and is one of the most sought-after scholar-athletes in the region.

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