LISBON — The Lisbon High School football team won a defensive battle against Old Orchard Beach on Saturday in a Class D South showdown at Thompson Field, earning a 13-6 victory.
All of the scoring came in the second quarter, with Tyler Halls leading the Greyhounds to the victory with both Lisbon touchdowns, including a 63-yard interception return late in the first half.
“We started off a little rough,” Halls said. “But my team had my back and helped me get two touchdowns, it’s all about the team.”
The Seagulls struggled offensively and struggled to hang onto the ball, dropping three fumbles. They fell on all of them, but still could only muster one scoring drive.
OOB started the game with the ball, but the Lisbon defense forced a punt. The next two series resulted in a turnover on downs for OOB.
On a Lisbon possession near midfield late in the opening frame, Halls had his punt blocked, setting up the Seagulls with a first down on the Lisbon 48. A 19-yard run by Erik Hogan got OOB to the 29-yard line and later, on third-and-10, Dylan Creswell found Zach Hirst for a 12-yard pass to the Lisbon 17. Runs by Creswell and Hogan set the Seagulls up with a first-and-goal on the 4-yard line. After a fumbled snap sent OOB back three yards, Tanton Mattson made a stop for no gain, setting up third and goal. Jared Glover made the next stop for the Greyhounds, and an incomplete pass on fourth down turned the ball over to Lisbon on downs.
“I thought the defense really came here to play today,” Lisbon head coach Dick Mynahan said. “They played hard last week and they played hard again this week.”
With the big stop, Lisbon took over, but a pass on second and long by Halls was intercepted by Logan Melnik to set the ’Gulls up with a first down on the Lisbon 11. Two plays later, Dylan Boudreau ran it in for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 with 7:14 remaining in the second quarter.
Lisbon pushes back
The Greyhounds responded on the very next drive, gaining 61 yards on 12 plays. A 20-yard run and a 10-yard burst by Halls moved the chains. On first and goal on the 5-yard line, Halls turned the corner and dove for the pylon, reaching for the score. With a Noah Francis point-after kick, Lisbon held a 7-6 advantage with 3:08 remaining in the half.
“We had a miscommunication (on that play),” Halls said. “But I just reacted and my team threw a couple blocks for me and I hit the outside.”
OOB looked to have something going on the following drive, getting two first downs. But on second down, Halls jumped the hitch route and took it back 63 yards for the score, making it 13-6 with just 24 seconds remaining in the half.
“I knew they were going to run that hitch,” Halls said. “Right off the snap I just sprinted forward and took it from there.”
The second half was a battle of defenses and field position, with the ’Hounds having two possessions over four-minutes long, while the ’Gulls had a near six-minute possession that ended with a punt. Halls threw an interception in the end zone, and OOB picked up three first downs before its drive stalled.
“Our defense is great,” Halls said. “I threw that pick but they had my back and we got the ball right back.”
Down seven with just over four minutes to play, Creswell tried to rally the OOB offense, but the Seagulls never really got anything going. On second down, Dakota McIver made a huge sack for the Greyhound defense. Later, on fourth-and-12, the ’Gulls looked like they had an open man, but the ball was under-thrown and Henry Adams intercepted to seal the win for the Greyhounds.
“The heat hit us hard today but we played through it,” Halls said after rushing for 55 yards.
“Tyler’s a gifted athlete,” Mynahan said. “He’s capable of doing a lot for us, both on offense and defense.”
Francis led the Greyhounds on the ground with 57 yards. For OOB (0-2), Hogan rushed for 52 yards.
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