LISBON FALLS – Defenses don’t bask in enough headlines and hyperbole to begin with, and now, darn the luck, Lisbon High School’s wall of denial is forced to share the credit for its fourth shutout of the season with the offense.
Lisbon pounded the ball off tackle and threw safe, crisp, on-target passes throughout its 30-0 Western Class C football overwhelming of Old Orchard Beach at Thompson Field.
The Greyhounds converted third and fourth downs with eye-popping efficiency. When penalties pushed them backward, they usually ran the same play again, only better. They basically played keep-away from the Seagulls all afternoon and kept their defense busy as the Maytag Repairman.
“Offense was a big part of our game,” said senior defensive back and receiver Nick Adams, who somehow found the opportunity to make a team-high nine tackles. “Our drives just kept going.”
Four touchdown drives covered 15, eight, 17 and seven plays, respectively. In the second half, OOB owned possession for a paltry five minutes, eight seconds, meaning the Greyhounds kept it to themselves almost 80 percent of the time the clock was moving.
The Seagulls mustered minus-4 yards after intermission and 66 in all. Senior quarterback Mike Perrone accounted for 41 of those before leaving the game with an apparent right leg injury after he was gang tackled by Adams, Joe Stevens and Andrew Dubois midway through the second quarter.”I think losing their quarterback really affected them,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan. “We worked all week on stopping him. He hurt us a lot last year.”
Lisbon (7-1) has allowed only three touchdowns in seven Campbell Conference games.
Offensively, the Greyhounds reached the end zone once in every quarter, exhibiting balance and depth. Levi Ervin finished with 209 all-purpose yards, including 177 on the ground.
He barreled behind center for a 6-yard score in the first quarter and caught a 5-yard TD strike in the third from Chris Brunick, who was 8-for-9 for 80 yards through the air.
Brunick went 6-of-7 on a drive that consumed most of the third quarter and saw the Greyhounds move the chains three times on third down and twice on fourth down.
“We’re a ball-control team,” said Brunick, “but we’re trying to keep the defense honest.”
With Ervin and Stevens emerging as perimeter threats, Dan Willis cashed in with a 26-yard TD run on a counter play to put Lisbon up 14-0 at the half.
Junior Brandon Riordan scored from 10 yards out in the fourth quarter.
“People think we’re just a running team,” said Ervin, who caught four passes and a two-point toss, but Chris makes plays at quarterback, and our line gave him time.”
Elijah Trefts provided that push up front along with Jared Williams, Shawn Fitzgerald and Devan Knight. Trefts and Mark Stambach also got in their licks defensively.
OOB (5-3) reached Lisbon territory on each of its first three possessions.
The Seagulls advanced from their 39-yard line to the Lisbon 8 before Perrone’s departure.
The Seagulls missed a field goal attempt at the end of that fateful series and produced only two more first downs, none in the second half.
Comments are no longer available on this story