The first go-round was a controlled scrimmage. The second, a glorified exhibition, as it had no bearing on playoff positioning.

This time, the Class D West championship lingers in the balance when defending state champion No. 3 Oak Hill (9-1) travels to No. Lisbon (8-1) for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff at Thompson Field.

“I don’t think there are any secrets,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “It isn’t a secret that Coach (Dick Mynahan) will have a wrinkle. We’re expecting one. We’re preparing for it.”

Doucette played quarterback for Mynahan at Lisbon, graduating in 1992.

He is 4-0 against his former mentor, including a regular-season and playoff sweep last fall. Doucette has put those games on the shoulders of stellar running backs Kyle Flaherty and Alex Mace, now seniors and responsible for more than 8,000 career yards.

“They’ve got two real explosive backs in Mace and Flaherty. There’s no surprise there. They just run the ball well, and it doesn’t matter which one,” Mynahan said. “You can’t play different for them. They’re both great athletes in different ways.”

Health has been an issue for the Greyhounds in recent encounters with the Raiders.

A year ago, Lisbon lost senior all-purpose back Quincy Thompson to a dislocated elbow late in the regular season. He missed the October game against Oak Hill before making a somewhat miraculous return for the playoff rematch.

That won’t be the case this season for quarterback Kyle Bourget, whose high school career ended with a knee injury in the second quarter of last week’s 25-12 semifinal win over Old Orchard Beach.

Sophomore wide receiver Tyler Halls guided the Greyhounds to victory and will be back under center this week.

“The challenge is to have a sophomore quarterback step in there who hasn’t run the team since August, and he’s trying to learn it pretty fast,” Mynahan said. “We’re trying to mix up our offense and do different things so he’s not too nervous or unsure of himself.”

Shawn Grover and Noah Francis lead a potent Lisbon rushing attack, behind fullback Joe Philbrick, that will bear an even weightier load this week.

“We have to play assignment defense and react to what they do,” Doucette said.

Oak Hill is a threat to throw the ball. Mace and Kyle Tervo are Dalton Therrien’s leading receivers.

The Raiders have divided the carries evenly between Mace and Flaherty since the latter returned from a dual hamstring injury in midseason. Although Oak Hill is known to change formations on the fly, double wing has been its calling card.

“We are what we are, I guess. We do a lot of different things,” Doucette said. “A game of this magnitude comes down to who makes the fewest mistakes, and that means turnovers. That’s a big focus in our practice, at every position, not letting that happen.”

Lisbon made its last state finals appearance in 2006, when it won the second of back-to-back Class C championships.

“Our goal is the same every August,” Mynahan said. “We know we’ve been successful if we’re practicing on the softball field under the lights (in November), and we’ve done that twice already this week.”

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