LISBON — Lisbon head coach Dick Mynahan said he thought Saturday’s Western Class D football semifinal between his top-seeded Greyhounds and No. 4 Old Orchard Beach would come down to how the two quarterbacks played.

Mynahan expected a big day out of his senior signal-caller, Kyle Bourget, but Bourget went down with an injury early in the second quarter. The Greyhounds could have come undone without Bourget, but the No. 1 team in the division regrouped and held off a second-half surge from the Seagulls and their senior quarterback to win 25-12 at Thompson Field.

When Bourget completed a 6-yard pass to Tyler Halls on the Greyhounds’ third play of the game, it looked like Lisbon was ready to show its full arsenal on offense. Instead, those were the only six passing yards of the game for Lisbon, and the pass was a metaphorical handing over of the reins from Bourget to the sophomore Halls, who took over as quarterback after Bourget injured his knee blocking on a punt return early in the second quarter.

Lisbon’s one-two punch of 225-pound running back Noah Francis and 230-pound fullback Joe Philbrick was featured heavily on the Greyhounds’ first two drives, as they got favorable field position on a one-two punch of OOB turnovers.

Lisbon recovered a fumble on the OOB 38-yard line and capped off its opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Francis, but the Greyhounds were stopped on 4th-and-goal on the next drive after OOB quarterback Bryan Roberts was picked off by Halls.

Those first two drives included a combined nine carries by Francis and Philbrick, more than half of the combined 17 they had for the entire game.

When Bourget came out of the game after OOB’s next drive ended in a punt, Mynahan was forced to put Halls in at quarterback to run an option-style attack.

“I think the biggest adjustment was just having the kids understand that we could still come out and play without him. It’s quite a blow when someone like Kyle goes down,” said Mynahan.

The first drive under Halls’ direction wasn’t pretty, as Halls kept the ball himself on five straight runs before a drive-ending interception.

While the Lisbon offense suddenly stuttered, the Greyhound defense kept the OOB offense grounded for the entirety of the first half. Lisbon’s defense responded with another interception of Roberts late in the first half after Halls’ pick.

The Seagulls were held to just 90 yards of offense in the first half, and didn’t get into Lisbon territory until the play before Roberts’ second pick.

But the OOB defense held its own ground, holding Lisbon to just 95 first-half yards as the Seagulls trailed just 7-0 at halftime despite three turnovers.

“Lisbon always does a great job scheming. They had us reeling a little bit offensively. They did a nice job on Bryan early,” said OOB head coach Dean Plante. “We turned the ball over and we set them up with short fields a couple times, and still hung around. So we felt really good at halftime.”

Neither team could gain any traction early in the second half as the Greyhounds punted twice and OOB went three-and-out before Roberts threw another interception on the Seagulls’ second drive.

The pick set up the Greyhounds on the OOB 25 and Lisbon junior running back Shawn Grover stepped into the spotlight. Grover ran for seven yards on first down and after a 2-yard run by Philbrick on the next play, Grover scampered in from 16 yards out to put Lisbon up 13-0.

Old Orchard Beach answered right back, however, as Roberts ran 80 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown two plays later.

Plante said he was hoping Roberts’ breakout run would give his team momentum, but Lisbon came back with a nine-play, 68-yard drive that spanned the third and fourth quarter, capped off by a 6-yard touchdown run by Grover.

“We get a stop there and we have the entire momentum going into the fourth quarter. But they stole it back and that’s what good teams do,” Plante said of Lisbon’s answering drive. “Hats off to them.”

The Seagulls were forced to punt on the next drive and Grover ran for 72 yards on the next play to set up another Lisbon touchdown. Francis did the honors from nine yards out, but Grover’s two runs for 81 yards on the drive was the key.

Grover, all 140 pounds of him, ran for a game-high 205 yards on 15 carries.

“I think that Shawn did a great job keeping us in the game. He broke a couple for us,” said Mynahan. “He had a real breakout game today.”

The Seagulls weren’t done, however, as Roberts led OOB ”“ with a one-play cameo at quarterback by Dylan Creswell after Roberts had the wind knocked out of him ”“ on a five-play drive that ended in a 2-yard keeper by Roberts for a touchdown.

“He’s the best player in the league, and he’s probably a top 10 player in the state. He can play anywhere, and you’re a horse’s (bleep) if you don’t believe that,” Plante said of Roberts, who ran for 183 yards and threw for another 79. “He does everything. He’s a warrior.”

The touchdown brought OOB to within 25-12 with 3:30 to play, and the Seagulls got the ball right back after Roberts’ squib kickoff bounced off a Lisbon defender and into the arms of OOB’s Hunter Bouthot.

The Seagulls were able to drive down to the Lisbon 3-yard line ”“ thanks to a key fourth-down pass from Roberts to Evan Christensen that went for 36 yards ”“ but Roberts was stopped on 4th-and-1 to end the comeback attempt.

Halls only needed kneeldowns to run the clock out and send the Greyhounds into a regional final matchup with No. 3 Oak Hill ”“ the only team to beat Lisbon this season.

For the Seagulls, it’s the end of the road for their season and the last time Roberts ”“ as well as seven other seniors ”“ will put the pads on for OOB.

“I never questioned our effort; our kids fight. We’re one of the smallest schools in the state with football, and we’ve been in the thick of things for the last five years. I’ve got nothing but pride,” Plante said of his team. “Today wasn’t meant to be.”

—Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.