Oak Hill High School’s James Borkowski, Jr., right, and Gavin Rawstron, bottom, tackle Lisbon’s Lucas Francis during Saturday playoff football game in Lisbon on October 27, 2018, in Lisbon, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
LISBON — Oak Hill spent nearly the entire first 48 minutes of Saturday’s Class D South quarterfinal backed up in its own end.
The seventh-seeded Raiders needed overtime to finally make No. 2 Lisbon’s defense protect its goal line. But that was all they needed.
Sophomore QB Gavin Rawstron wasted little time in giving the Raiders the lead with a 10-yard touchdown run on the first play of OT. Oak Hill’s defense stiffened again on Lisbon’s possession, this time with the help of a penalty, and secured a 6-0 upset win in the Thompson Field mud bowl.
Oak Hill (4-5) advances to the semifinals, where it will face No. 6 Madison (5-4) next weekend in Madison. Lisbon ends its season at 7-2.
“We wanted this. This senior group hadn’t beaten Lisbon since their third- and fourth-grade year,” said Rawstron, who ran 73 yards on 20 carries. “They wanted it here. They knew this was it, this is how you’re going to get remembered for your senior season.”
Lisbon won the toss for overtime and elected to defend first. Each team starts 10 yards from the goal line and gets four downs to score, alternating possessions until there is a winner.
Rawstron took the snap on the Raiders’ first play and followed his blockers around the right side before diving for the pylon and the lead.
“As soon as our outside tackle (AJ Redmun) down-blocked on their end and our running backs (Reid Cote and Quentin Pelkey) got to the outside (linebackers), we had the edge set and I knew all I had to do was beat the corner,” Rawstron said. “We did it as a team right there.”
Lisbon took its turn from the 10 and started with a one-yard run by Lucas Francis. On second down, Quentin Pelkey and Caleb Treadwell led a blitz that stopped Francis for an eight-yard loss.
On third down, Francis dropped back to pass from the 17 and connected over the middle to Robbie Dick, who made a leaping catch with two Oak Hill defenders on him at the 2.
Lisbon thought it had tied the game when Francis ran it in from the 2 on fourth down. But the play was negated by a penalty on the Greyhounds for not having enough players on the line of scrimmage.
Pushed back to the seven, the Greyhounds had a miscommunication on their shotgun snap, which Francis didn’t appear to be expecting at that moment. Oak Hill smothered him as he tried to retrieve it at the 25, clinching the upset and setting off a procession of white jerseys diving into the mud in celebration.
“We just had to do our job,” senior linebacker Gabe Bergeron said. “We knew they were throwing everything at us, but we were able to just buckle down.”
“We said, ‘No long plays.’ That was our challenge (to the defense), no big plays,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “We were going to corral and challenge them on a wet, muddy field to go the whole length of the field.”
The game was a stark contrast to the previous week’s rivalry game, in much better conditions in Wales, where Lisbon used a pair of interception returns for touchdowns late to pull away, 47-27.
Pouring rain before the game slowed to a steady for most of the action, which turned Thompson Field into a steadily deteriorating quagmire. Not surprisingly, both teams stuck to the running game, combining for seven passes that ended up in more interceptions (two) than completions.
Lisbon forced a punt on the opening series of the game, then drove to Oak Hill’s 29, but turned the ball back over on downs when Francis’ fourth-down jump pass fell incomplete.
Oak Hill crossed midfield on its second possession but had to punt from Lisbon’s 46. Francis (25 carries, 74 yards) and Isaiah Thompson (12 carries, 67 yards) drove the Greyhounds back into Raider territory, to the 18, early in the second quarter. But back-to-back holding and false start flags on Lisbon ultimately stifled the threat when Thompson was stopped for a three-yard gain to the 13 on fourth-and-5.
The Raiders punted again, this time from deep in their own territory, and Daytona McIver’s 23-yard return set up the Greyhounds at Oak Hill’s 15. The Raiders held them to one yard on three downs, though, and Lisbon sent out the field goal unit. Justin Le’s 34-yard attempt was short and left.
The teams exchanged interceptions, by Rawstron and Lisbon’s Isaac Burnell, to end the half.
Lisbon continued to control field position to start the second half, when its first two possessions started at Oak Hill’s 45 and 37. The Raider defense continued to buckle down and forced a punt both times.
“As the game went on, I thought, defensively, we got stronger, besides a couple of times,” Doucette said. “The kids played very well. I thought it was a very good, old-fashioned football game.”
“I think we just shot ourselves in the foot (with) penalties and bad snaps and just, overall, not executing,” Lisbon Coach Chris Kates said.
The Greyhounds finally started on their own side of the field, the 36, for their first drive of the fourth quarter, but quickly drove deep into Raider territory again with a series of runs by Francis. From the 17, though, the snap sailed over Francis’ head, and Oak Hill’s Bergeron raced to recover it at the 31.
“I tried to scoop it up and score, but with all of the mud, I slipped,” Bergeron said.
On its ensuing series, Oak Hill elected to go for it on fourth-and-less-than-a-yard from its own 41. The snap slipped through Rawstron’s fingers and was scooped up by Pelkey, who was quickly taken down for a short loss, giving Lisbon possession at Oak Hill’s 40.
Again, Lisbon went nowhere and had to punt from the Raiders’ 39. Oak Hill took over from its own 12 with 4:38 left and had its best drive of the game, marching to the Lisbon 29. But Lisbon’s Colin Houle tackled Rawstron for a four-yard loss on third down and Rawstron threw incomplete on fourth down with time running out in regulation.
Oak Hill High School’s James Borkowski, Jr. slides through the mud after the Raiders defeated rival Lisbon High School in overtime of their playoff game Saturday, October 27, 2018, in Lisbon, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Lisbon’s Colin Houle, left, bounces off Oak Hill’s James Borkowski, Jr. as he plows through the line during Saturday’s game. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Oak Hill’s Samuel Lindsay makes a touchdown-saving tackle of Lisbon’s Robbie Dick during overtime. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
The Oak Hill line gets into position for a play during Saturday’s playoff game against Lisbon in Lisbon. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Oak Hill’s Caleb Treadwell, top, celebrates after diving through the mud as teammate Gabriel Bergeron, bottom, takes his turn at the end of Saturday’s playoff game against Lisbon in overtime. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
An Oak Hill helmet is raised high after Saturday’s playoff victory over Lisbon. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Lisbon’s Hunter Job looks to the bench just before overtime. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Oak Hill High School students, from left to right, Emily Dillman, Brianna Dumais, Lexi Finn and Madison Drew have a laugh as they try to keep dry and warm during Saturday’s Class D South quarterfinal playoff game between their Oak Hill Raiders and the Lisbon Greyhounds during a constant rain/snow mix in Lisbon, Maine Saturday afternoon October 27, 2018. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Michelle Dorman, of Litchfield, Maine, looks out at her son’s Class D South quarterfinal football game against Lisbon High School in Lisbon, Maine Saturday afternoon October 27, 2018, during a constant rain/snow mix as her son Jackson keeps warm under a blanket they were sharing. Her other son’s team, the Oak Hill Raiders won the game in overtime. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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