Last-gasp stand at goal line gives Greyhounds gold Willis deflects pass, Foxcroft title hopes

loading...

PORTLAND – It was a classic football confrontation played out in a most dramatic setting Saturday night – at the goal line in the final minute of a state championship game.

Foxcroft Academy’s offense arrived there having averaged 46 points per game over the last month. Lisbon’s defense arrived there having not allowed a touchdown in nearly five full games.

Four times Foxcroft surged toward the goal line. Four times the Greyhounds stood strong, the final time as Dan Willis knocked down a fourth down pass into the end zone with 13.4 seconds left to give Lisbon a 12-7 victory in the Class C state final at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“That’s the best team we played all year,” said Lisbon tailback and free safety Levi Ervin. “They put up a fight, they never died. But you know what? We never died either. We showed it right there on that goal line stand.”

Foxcroft drove from its 18 to the Lisbon 4 in less than three minutes after halting a 64-yard Greyhounds’ march with a fourth down stop of its own.

Four straight pass completions by senior quarterback Logan Forrest – to Shayne Croan for 9 yards on third-and-16, to Brad Bellemare for 11 on fourth-and-seven, to Joey Caparrelli for 34 yards, and to Jon Catell for 12 yards with a 4-yard Lisbon penalty tacked on – quickly moved the Ponies in position to taste their second state title in the last three years.

But as the ball rested at the Lisbon 4 with 1:21 left, little passing room remained. Just resolve.

Senior fullback James McPhee gained 2 yards on first down, but Ervin stopped Caparrelli for no gain on the next play. Then Lisbon’s Nick Harmon shot through the line untouched on third down to nail McPhee for a 2-yard loss.

On fourth down, Forrest rolled left and saw McPhee open in the front of the end zone, but Willis reacted quickly enough to deflect the pass away.

For Lisbon, angst was replaced by jubilation.

“We had to make a big play, and the hole opened up and I got through and made the hit,” said Harmon of his third down stop. “I have my teammates to thank for that, because they helped open it up so I could get in there, and then Dan got the ball on the next play.”

For Foxcroft, anticipation was replaced by heartbreak.

“I thought we were going to put it in, but they had a couple of kids make plays,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee. “They had a kid [Harmon] who stunted through on the dive play to McPhee and took his feet out. I don’t know if we didn’t execute, but we didn’t finish what we needed to do. Even on the bootleg pass on the last play, McPhee looked like he was open and [Willis] came in at the last moment and knocked the ball away.”

The win avenged a Lisbon loss to Foxcroft in the 2003 state final, while also ending the Ponies’ state-best 10-game win streak.

“Defensively they kept our offense out of the end zone, and we’ve been averaging 40 or 50 points a game,” said Withee. “I knew they would present a big challenge. They’re an outstanding team, they’re well coached, they’ve got kids who are really aggressive and they outplayed us.”

But not by much – Lisbon had 288 total yards, Foxcroft 285.

Forrest completed 10 of 14 passes for 204 yards, with Catell making four catches for 111 yards. But Lisbon, which allowed just 52 points in 12 games this fall, was effective in limiting Foxcroft to 81 rushing yards on 39 carries. The Ponies also were hurt by a pair of fumbles deep in Lisbon territory, once at the 20 late in the first quarter, and once at the 14 midway through the fourth quarter.

“They never gave up,” said Ervin, who led Lisbon with a game-high 121 rushing yards on 24 carries. “But our defense has so much heart. We just wanted it.”

Lisbon (11-1) took a 6-0 lead on its first possession, with a 34-yard counter run by Willis and a 12-yard run inside the 1 by Ervin setting up quarterback Chris Brunick for a sneak into the end zone with 6:50 left in the first quarter.

Foxcroft (10-2) then marched deep into Lisbon territory, but a big hit by Mark Stambach jarred the ball loose from Caparrelli at the 20 and Harmon recovered for the Greyhounds.

An Ervin fumble soon gave Foxcroft the ball back at the Lisbon 40, and the Ponies reached the 14 before Forrest was sacked by Jesse Moan and the Ponies were penalized for illegal procedure to set up a fourth-and-15 incompletion to end that scoring threat.

Lisbon advanced to the Foxcroft 38 before back-to-back illegal motion penalties forced the Greyhounds to punt. Caparrelli fielded the ball at the Foxcroft 15, used a crunching block by Josh Pelletier to get around the corner, then sprinted down the right sideline – stiff-arming the final defender away near midfield – an 85-yard punt return to the end zone with 32.9 seconds left in the half.

Bellemare followed with the extra-point kick to give the Ponies a 7-6 lead at the break.

That momentum was short-lived. Lisbon took the second-half kickoff and marched inside the Foxcroft 10 before Willis fumbled a second-and-goal handoff that was recovered by Foxcroft’s E.J. Thorpe.

The Greyhounds regained the lead early in the fourth quarter with a 54-yard march. Ervin initially advanced the ball into Foxcroft territory, taking a pitch to the left for a 19-yard gain, his longest run of the night. The Ponies’ defense stiffened to force a fourth-and-six from the FA 31, but Brunick saw Nick Adams open behind a defender and launched just his second pass of the night, good for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 8:56 left in the game.

“I saw everything,” said Adams of the play. “I saw touchdown the whole way. There was no doubt in my mind.”

Foxcroft immediately threatened again, as Forrest found Catell open for a 48-yard gain to the Lisbon 14 immediately after the kickoff. But Caparrelli fumbled on the next play and the Greyhounds recovered.

GREYHOUNDS 12, PONIES 7

Foxcroft (10-2) 0 7 0 0 – 7

Lisbon (11-1) 6 0 0 6 – 12

L-Brunick 1 run (rush failed)

FA-Caparrelli 85 punt return (Bellemare kick)

L-Adams 31 pass from Brunick (pass failed)

Foxcroft Lisbon

First downs 12 14

Rushing att.-yards 39-81 41-213

Passing comp.-att. 10-15 2-3

Passing yards 204 75

Total yards 285 288

Punts-avg. 3-23.3 2-35.5

Fumbles-lost 4-2 2-2

Intercepted by 0 0

Penalties-yards 6-52 6-29

Rushing

Foxcroft: Caparrelli 16-52, McPhee 13-45, Bellemare 3-5, Adkins 2-(minus 1), Forrest 5-(minus 20); Lisbon: Ervin 24-121, Willis 8-65, Stevens 3-19, Brunick 6-8

Passing

Foxcroft: Forrest 10-14-0-204, Caparrelli 0-1-0-0; Lisbon: Brunick 2-3-0-75

Receiving

Foxcroft: Catell 4-111, Croan 3-44, Caparrelli 1-34, Bellemare 1-11, McPhee 1-4; Lisbon: Stevens 1-44, Adams 1-31

A-2,750 (est.)