PORTLAND

The Lisbon High School football team was much closer to winning Saturday’s Class D state football championship than the 20-14 score displayed.

The Greyhounds came into the game riding an eight-game winning streak and controlled the entire first half. In the end, the game was decided on a last-second botched field goal snap turned touchdown, but it wasn’t lack of talent that took away Lisbon’s 14-point lead and ultimate state championship.

It was a few little things.

The passing game

Maine Central Institute quarterback Josh Buker was unlike any play-caller Lisbon had faced all season. Not only was he a pass-heavy quarterback, uncommon in Class D, but he was also a threat on the ground and finished with almost 100 yards rushing.

The Greyhound defense was on its heels for much of the second half, having to defend the pass and be ready for the run at the same time. Passing plays were often disguised as runs.

“The biggest difference is I thought with their quarterback, the passing game enhanced his running game,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “It looked like at times he was just letting receivers clear the area, and when it was clear, he took off.”

When he did let it fly through the air, Buker was often deadly. Both of MCI’s touchdowns before the game-winner were long passes, with one going for 58 yards across the middle.

Before the field goal attempt, Buker connected on two 20-plus passes to set up the final play with just 3.1 seconds on the clock.

After that, the game was over.

Offensive adjustments

The Lisbon offense, which is built on long, sustained drives down the field, often relies on Noah and Lucas Francis for tough yards in the trenches. It was Noah who plunged into the end zone as the clock expired up in Winthrop two weeks ago to secure a birth in the title game.

On Saturday, though, the MCI defense had done its homework and it showed. Combined, the Francis brothers didn’t reach the 75- yard mark and Noah was held to three yards on four carries in the second half.

Mynahan and his staff recognized early that the running game wasn’t going to be there and were forced to adjust. Quarterback Tyler Halls, who scored each of Lisbon’s touchdowns in the first half, was called upon heavily. Designed quarterback runs and sweeps worked for a while, but the Huskies picked up on the play-calling and totally shut things down in the second half.

“We have an offense geared around him,” Mynahan said of Halls. “That’s pretty much what we did in the second quarter, which gave us both our touchdowns. They kind of adjusted to that and after that, we didn’t get the ball very often. The defense had the difficult role of stopping them.”

Halls can’t do it all

Halls is the unquestioned leader of the Lisbon team. He’s the starting quarterback, he’s a starting corner and he’s even the punter when needed — one of his punts on Saturday bounced out of bounds at the 2-yard line and pinned MCI deep.

He’s “the guy” and it’s definitely not a secret. He’s meant a great deal to the team,” Mynahan said. “He’s our leader. That was obvious after the game when he was trying to give everyone encouragement. It’s easy to be a leader when things are going good, not so easy to be a leader when things are going bad.”

Still, one player can only do so much.

When the going got tough late in the game, Halls was moved outside to wide receiver, with Lucas Francis behind center. It’s a combination the Greyhounds have worked on in practice, and Halls is even being recruited as a collegiate wide receiver, but it’s not ideal.

It gets away from what Halls calls “the bread and butter,” Lisbon ground-attack offense. As a receiver, Halls was targeted twice and didn’t record a catch.

Mynahan gave most of the credit to the MCI defense for adjusting at halftime and forcing his offense into uncomfortable situations.

Over the course of the game, the little nuances and little adjustments added up. It was things like five penalties, a rock-solid MCI defensive front and unfamiliar offensive schemes that kept Halls and company from sending Mynahan out on top in his final game as a coach.

The Greyhounds certainly had the team to do it.

“We really wanted to get this win for him,” Halls said after the game on Saturday. “Didn’t turn out right, but he’s had a hell of a career. He’ll go down as the best coach ever at Lisbon and he really deserves that.”