LISBON — The play that best defined Lisbon’s 36-0 win over Medomak Valley on Saturday afternoon was a penalty on the Greyhounds.
On that infraction, 275-pound senior fullback Noah Francis hurdled a hapless defender. The play was called back, but the Greyhounds scored on the very next play, and that’s how things went in the Class D South football game at Thompson Field.
“It gets us pretty hyped because he’s the biggest guy on the field,” Lisbon senior quarterback Tyler Halls said of Francis. “But he can actually get up, he’s really athletic.”
Players aren’t allowed to hurdle others in Maine high school football, but Francis’ athletic feat was a microcosm of the Greyhounds’ (6-1) win. For all intents and purposes, they couldn’t be stopped.
Lisbon scored just three plays into the game. Jared Glover broke through for a 49-yard touchdown run. Halls then found Tyrese Joseph on the two-point throw for a 8-0 lead just 80 seconds into the contest.
Two plays into the next drive — after Francis’ illegal leap — Halls hit Kurtis Bolton for a 43-yard touchdown pass. Another conversion to Joseph and it was 16-0 just over four minutes in.
“I love throwing the ball. But Coach Mynahan doesn’t like the deeps balls,” Halls said as Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan chuckled.
Halls was 5-of-6 passing in the game for 123 yards. He never ran the ball. And he didn’t need to.
“I told him, ‘Tyler, don’t run the ball, don’t stay inbounds, go right out of bounds,'” Mynahan said. “For a young high school kid, that’s a lot to hear. You know, don’t play your game. But I didn’t want him injured.”
The Greyhounds have bigger goals than a win in their regular-season finale. They earned the No. 2 seed in the D South playoffs, and they have championship aspirations. That meant extra work during the week leading up to the game against the Panthers (1-6).
“We did what you usually do when — we knew we would be favored in this game,” Mynahan said. “It’s always hard to not have a letdown. So what we did in practice this week is we worked twice as hard as we do every other week.”
Mynahan said he was worried his players might not be at full strength, but they played like they were. The Greyhounds were unsuccessful on their third and fourth drives, which ended with a punt and fumble, respectively, but they were introduced to the end zone two plays after the turnover.
The Panthers gave the ball right back on a fumbled snap — with an assist to the wet conditions. Halls then found Bolton again on a pass, which went 45 yards to pay dirt. Halls then connected with Lucas Francis on the two-point conversion.
Noah Francis ended Lisbon’s next drive with a 1-yard plunge. Halls’ two-point pass was knocked down, keeping the score 30-0.
Throughout the first 18 minutes of play, the Medomak Valley offense couldn’t muster anything. The Panthers produced one yard of offense in the first quarter, then finally picked up their initial first down of the game on the ensuing drive after Francis’ score.
Medomak Valley gained three first downs on the drive, which ended with a Noah Williams interception of Eli Miller seconds before the end of the half.
The Panthers went three-and-out to start the third quarter, then Lisbon went on a 50-yard scoring drive, capped off by a Lucas Francis 2-yard run. The two-point run was stopped, but the 36-0 score started a running clock.
That was it for the Lisbon first-team offense, which picked up 262 of the Greyhounds’ 334 total yards of offense.
“It was great to go out and execute early because we worked hard Thursday, Wednesday, and it just showed that hard work pays off,” Halls said.
The Panthers never got into the red zone, and were held to 79 total yards, 39 of which came on a single run late in the fourth quarter by Kenneth Pruyne.
The shutout was Lisbon’s fourth of the season in seven games.
“We don’t play for a shutout,” Mynahan said. “If we get a shutout, that’s nice.”
About the only negative for the Greyhounds was five fumbles, two of which they lost. One came on a blocked Medomak Valley punt, but the Greyhounds couldn’t hold onto the ball and the Panthers got it back.
“We know that if we want to be a good team we can’t do that,” Mynahan said.
Halls said he needs to have a better snap relationship with his center in wet conditions, but he was pleased with how the passing game produced despite the rain. Mynahan said the team even practiced with wet balls to prepare for the game.
Now the Greyhounds will prepare for a playoff game two weeks away against either Oak Hill or Traip Academy.
“We work for whoever wins that next game,” Halls said of the bye week. “Probably work for both teams, just in case.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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