PORTLAND

The Lisbon High School football team has been traveling up and down the Midcoast the past couple weeks and it’s been riding a highly emotional roller coaster.

Seven days after defeating Winthrop/Monmouth on a pair of miraculous last-second plays in the Class D South regional final, the Greyhounds were right in the middle of another down-to-the-wire game on Saturday evening.

With the score deadlocked 14-14 in the final seconds of the game, Maine Central Institute kicker Devon Varney, who hit multiple attempts from distance in pre-game warm-ups, had a game-winner lined up from 37-yards out. Overtime looked likely when MCI running back Eli Bussell bobbled the snap in the rain, but the play was far from over.

Bussell collected the ball, ran outside and darted 20 yards into the end zone as time expired to give the Huskies the Class D state championship, 20-14.

Lisbon was left stunned.

“It ended with a good team making a good play,” said Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan, who is retiring after 30 seasons. “They had a great second half, they’ve got some real talented athletes. The kid knew what to do with it — give him a lot of credit for that.”

“I don’t even know what happened, to be honest,” Bussell said. “I should have caught that ball.”

It was particularly crushing for Lisbon (8-2) after it held a 14-0 lead and totally controlled the first half.

“We felt really good, but we knew MCI’s a good team and that they could come back just like they did,” Lisbon quarterback Tyler Halls said. “They’re a great team, can’t do anything about it.

“It sucks to lose, but it was a hard-fought game. It was a great game to play in. Games like this really help our community. Everyone came out and showed up for us. I’m proud to be a Greyhound.”

The Comeback

Late in the third quarter, still leading 14-0, Lisbon took a sigh of relief as a 56- yard MCI (12-0) touchdown was called back on a penalty. But, on the very next play, Huskies quarterback Josh Buker dropped back and found Adam Bertrand over the middle for a big completion. Bertrand broke a tackle and ran into the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown that made the score 14-7.

After punting on the ensuing drive, the Greyhounds forced a fumble and got the ball back, but went three-and-out. Halls then punted rugby-style and pinned MCI down on the 2-yard line. With a little over seven minutes left on the clock, the Huskies had to go 98 yards to even the score.

They did just that.

Nine rushing plays, three completions and almost four minutes were capped off with a 21-yard hook-and-ladder touchdown at the other end of the field. Lisbon had 3:47 to move 70 yards and, admittedly, it’s not built for that.

“They’re a good team,” Mynahan said of MCI. “I thought in the second half, we had some good things happen for us. A couple times we took ourselves out of good situations with penalties and it’s hard sometimes when you get penalized in a game like today and with our kind of an offense, we’re not looking at big plays most of the time.”

Buker was the primary threat for MCI, completing 15 of 26 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. He also joined Bussell on the ground and rushed 22 times for 90 yards.

“Their quarterback is the type of athlete that just buys a lot of time,” Mynahan said of Buker. “I thought we had really good coverage today, but he rolled in his pocket and he rolled. He either ran it or passed and I’m pretty sure they practice that — they find the open seams in there.”

“He’s a hell of an athlete,” Halls said. “He’s shifty. Our team did a pretty good job. We held them to what he’s done all season.”

Halls takeover

A big reason for the MCI comeback came on the defensive side of the ball. Halls, who led the Lisbon offense with 100 yards on 20 carries, was held to 37 yards in the second half. The Huskies adjusted to the Halls-heavy play-calling and pitched a shutout in the second frame.

“I think it’s a little bit of their defense, stiffening up and figuring out what we did,” Mynahan said. “Us not executing as well as we did in the first half. It’s hard to say. I thought we had some opportunities in the second half, especially in the beginning, it just didn’t pan out.”

“They started to catch on to our plays,” Halls said. “We ran out of stuff to run. Their DBs are good, they locked me down over the top. Towards the end of the game, they took away the outside and I had to cut inside.”

The first half was a different story, though, despite MCI out-gaining Lisbon, 116- 115.

Following a scoreless first quarter, the Greyhounds took advantage of a shanked punt that gave them the ball at the 38-yard line. Three Halls runs and a penalty quickly resulted in the first score of the game and a 6-0 lead.

On his next offensive drive, Halls bounced into the end zone again to make the score 12-0. Then he found Tyrese Joseph on the 2-point conversion.

“We knew they were very big and strong inside,” Halls said. “After the first couple plays we went inside, didn’t work out. Our bread and butter was really outside. “The QB sweep was working for me, tosses, it was a just a good place to go.”

Halls completed two passes to Joseph for 33 yards and one to Lucas Francis for 15. Francis combined with his brother Noah for 73 rushing yards on 26 carries.

Despite the painful loss, there was a heavy sense of pride amongst the Lisbon players and coaches.

“We’ve been on the other side of a game like today, so we know both ends of it,” Mynahan said. “It’s a good game. Proud of my kids.”

MCI 20, Lisbon 14

Class D State Championship
Saturday, at Fitzpatrick Stadium in
Portland
MCI —  0 0 7 13 — 20
Lisbon — 0 14 0 0 — 14
Second Quarter
(L) — Tyler Halls 4 run (run failed),
6:08.
(L) — Tyler Halls 10 run (Tyrese
Joseph catch from Tyler Halls), 2:32.
Third Quarter
(M) — Josh Buker 58 pass to Adam
Bertrand (Devon Varney kick), 3:18.
Fourth Quarter
(M) — Josh Buker 21 pass to Eli
Bussell (Devon Varney kick), 3:17.
(M) — Eli Bussell 20 run, (no
attempt), :00.
Records — MCI 12-0, Lisbon 8-2