Lisbon ‘D’ too much for Foxcroft Ponies rally falls short

loading...

PORTLAND – Faced with a challenge somewhat of its own making, the Lisbon High School football team responded in championship-clinching fashion at Fitzpatrick Stadium on Saturday.

Thirteen plays and 62 yards later, the Greyhounds had the breathing room necessary to pull away to a 30-14 victory over Foxcroft Academy and win their second consecutive Class C state title.

The win capped off a storybook season for Lisbon, which returned only six starters from its 2005 edition but finished 12-0 and extended its winning streak to 21 games.

“We had to start from scratch this year pretty much,” said tackle Mark Stambach, one of the veterans from last year’s team that used a last-minute goal-line stand to edge Foxcroft 12-7 in the state final. “But we all wanted it just the same.”

This year there was less drama. An attacking and sure-tackling defense led by linebacker Jesse Moan limited 11-1 Foxcroft to 67 total yards, while tailback Dan Willis rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Mike Unterkoefler passed for 139 yards and two more scores.

But while Lisbon seemed in control after Unterkoefler hit Zach Bubar with a 49-yard touchdown pass that extended the Greyhounds’ lead to 20-0 on the first series of the second half, Foxcroft was not without a counterpunch.

Sophomore Wade Witham blocked a punt by Lisbon’s Joe Stevens – the backup for Nate Blackwell, who suffered a knee injury on the game’s first play from scrimmage. The ball went right back to Stevens, but Foxcroft’s Adam Dow tackled him at the Lisbon 10.

On fourth-and-goal from the 10, Foxcroft’s Dan Rosebush made a leaping catch of a David White pass along the right sideline in the end zone to pull the Ponies within 20-6 with 1:17 left in the period.

Foxcroft got the ball back immediately, as Lisbon’s Ben Bourgoin mishandled the kickoff and Adam LePrevost recovered at the Greyhounds’ 27.

An 11-yard run by David Frasz and a 10-yard pass from White to David Farrar set up the Ponies’ second score in less than two minutes, a 2-yard dive by Brad Bellemare on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Bellemare rushed for the two-point conversion, and Foxcroft was back in business – albeit briefly – as Lisbon used two third-down conversions and one on fourth down to get back to the end zone and halt the Ponies’ momentum.

Bubar got behind the defense to catch a 30-yard pass from Unterkoefler on third-and-eight from the Lisbon 40, and a 10-yard pass to Stevens on third-and-five gave the Greyhounds another first down at the 15.

Unterkoefler snuck for another first down on fourth-and-inches, and Willis scored two plays later from 3 yards out, with Unterkoefler passing to Bubar for the two-point conversion to restore Lisbon to a 28-14 cushion with 4:31 left.

“There was a little concern, but you’ve just got to keep faith,” said Willis. “This whole year none of us have ever gotten down when the game’s gotten close, and just like today we stepped up and got the win.”

Foxcroft’s final possession ended with three straight quarterback sacks, the last one by Devan Knight in the end zone for a safety with 1:56 to play.

“To me,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee, “that’s championship-quality character, when you’re down in a situation like that to drive the ball down the field and score and put the game away. That’s exactly what they did.”

Foxcroft’s longest drive came on its first possession, when the Ponies advanced from their 28 to the Lisbon 27 before Bubar sacked White for a 12-yard loss on fourth-and-four.

A fumbled punt return by Bellemare midway through the first quarter gave Lisbon possession at the Foxcroft 23. Two plays later Willis scored on a 3-yard run to give the Greyhounds a 6-0 lead with 5:07 left in the period.

Foxcroft’s defense then came up big on two occasions, the first when Robert Segerson recovered an Unterkoefler fumble at the FA 33, and later when Evan Worthing, Ben Provost, Ian Imbert and Tim Nason combined to stop Willis short of a first down on fourth-and-two from the Ponies’ 15.

But Lisbon’s lead grew to 12-0 with 20.7 seconds left in the first half, as Bourgoin got behind two Foxcroft defenders on a post pattern to make a diving 24-yard touchdown reception – the senior’s first catch of the year.

“We had been talking about that play all week, that either me or Joe [Stevens] was going to be open,” said Bourgoin. “Mike had faith in me to throw over the top of their two guys and I just went by both of them and got it.”

GREYHOUNDS 30, PONIES 14

Lisbon (12-0) 6 6 8 10 – 30

Foxcroft (11-1) 0 0 6 8 – 14

L – Willis 3 run (pass failed)

L – Bourgoin 24 pass from Unterkoefler (rush failed)

L – Bubar 49 pass from Unterkoefler (Unterkoefler rush)

FA – Rosebush 10 pass from White (kick blocked)

FA – Bellemare 2 run (Bellemare rush)

L – Willis 3 run (Bubar pass from Unterkoefler)

L – Safety, White tackled in end zone

Lisbon Foxcroft

First downs 13 7

Rushing att.-yards 52-159 32-31

Passing comp.-att. 7-10 4-9

Passing yards 139 36

Total yards 298 67

Punts-avg. 3-19.7 3-36.0

Fumbles-lost 2-2 5-2

Intercepted by 1 0

Penalties-yards 3-25 1-4

Rushing

Lisbon: Willis 34-127, Guiston 7-14, Unterkoefler 10-12, Stevens 1-6; Foxcroft: Bellemare 12-31, Frasz 5-11, Provost 3-11, Imbert 3-5, White 9-(minus-27)

Passing

Lisbon: Unterkoefler 7-10-0-139; Foxcroft: White 4-8-0-36, Bellemare 0-1-1-0

Receiving

Lisbon: Bubar 3-92, Stevens 3-23, Bourgoin 1-24; Foxcroft: Farrar 2-18

A-2,500 (est.)