OLD ORCHARD BEACH — For the first 6 1/2 minutes against Lisbon Friday night, Old Orchard Beach looked like the team that had won its first three games by an average of three touchdowns.

Then, the Greyhounds hit the Seagulls right in the mouth, and just kept hitting.

Thanks to a big-play offense and a bend-but-don’t break defense, Lisbon scored 42 consecutive points after falling behind early to beat Old Orchard Beach 42-7 and ruin the Seagulls’ homecoming game in a battle of unbeaten Western Class D teams at Joe Regina Field.

Greyhound quarterback Kyle Bourget threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns ”“ including strikes of 80 and 63 yards to Tyler Halls and Noah Francis ”“ on 5 of 8 passing in the first half as Lisbon (3-0) used big plays to build a 28-7 halftime break.

“We felt like we were the underdogs. It was their homecoming, they were going to pumped up and ready to play, and we came out fired up because we wanted to be the party crashers,” Bourget said. “Coach kept on telling us that team is top three, and we want a home playoff game, so that’s what we played for today.”

Old Orchard Beach’s offense entered the game averaging 30 points a game and marched the ball 60 yards on 11 plays on its first drive, moving the ball in mid-sized chunks behind the running of quarterback Bryan Roberts (16 carries, 86 yards) before Hunter Boutot went over from 3 yards out.

But that would be it for the Seagulls, who entered the Lisbon side of the field on each of its next six drives only to come up with nothing, with Roberts intercepted four times by an opportunistic Greyhounds defense.

“We didn’t finish drives, and they did,” Old Orchard Beach coach Dean Plante said. “We finish those drives, and it’s a different game. That’s partly our fault and partly credit to them. They changed up their defense, and we didn’t adjust in time. They threw the ball well and you can’t give up those big plays against good teams.”

Lisbon came up with plenty of plays, the most momentous right after the Seagulls’ opening touchdown. Backed up at their own 20 and facing a second and 15, Bourget hit receiver Tyler Halls with a perfectly-placed ball down the left sideline for an 80-yard catch and run.

“Old Orchard’s a very good team, and when they put that touchdown in, we knew we had to get it right back,” Halls said. “Kyle has a great arm, and I just had to put my hands out and keep going.”

“We had a tough beginning,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “You look at the first five or six minutes, and it looked like it was going to go the other way, and Kyle just put the ball right on the money and it put us right back in the game.”

With Old Orchard Beach (3-1) struggling to sustain drives inside Lisbon territory, the Greyhounds hit back with two quick-strike drives to take control.

The first came via the ground as a 35-yard rush by fullback Joe Philbrick (eight carries, 80 yards) setting up a 20-yard touchdown run from tailback Francis (19 carries, 96 yards) on the next play, with Francis also running in the conversion to give Lisbon a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.

Francis then came up with a big play in the air on the Greyhounds’ next drive, slipping out of the backfield and leaping over OOB safety Evan Christensen for a catch that turned into a 63-yard touchdown.

A Francis interception ended the Seagulls’ next drive, and Lisbon again took advantage, going 65 yards in 14 plays as Halls caught two passes on third down to keep the chains moving before hauling in an 11-yard TD on a slant route on fourth and seven late in the second quarter.

Old Orchard Beach had one last chance before the break to edge closer as it moved to the Lisbon 26, but Bourget intercepted Roberts’ heave into the end zone on the final play of the half to keep his team ahead 28-7.

“Our defense was great,” Bourget said. “After the first drive we got it in our heads that we had to stop them. They came close and we came up with big plays.”

Halls made sure there was no comeback at hand with a 14-yard interception return for a score with 8:15 to play.

The sophomore also intercepted a Roberts pass in the end zone and returned it 53 yards to snuff out the Seagulls’ penultimate drive, setting up a 31-yard Francis run to end the scoring.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and it was,” Mynahan said. “The score doesn’t indicate the type of game it was. It was a very hard game, and we had a couple of kids who made some plays for us. You take away three or four plays and this game would have been much closer.”

The Seagulls have a week to regroup before another tough one next Saturday when they’ll head to Wales to take on defending state champion Oak Hill.

“We’re still confident,” Plante said. “I’m not concerned that the season’s lost with one loss. We’ll regroup, tweak a few things and we’ll be fine. It’s a long season, and we’ll hopefully get a chance to see (Lisbon) again.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.

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