1 more week for Lisbon; it hopes 1 more victory

LISBON - Football coaches don't really talk about opponents or specific dates in their seasons any more, as much as they talk about "weeks."

In that vein, Lisbon's Kent Allison gathered his guys in the middle of the UNI-Dome field in Cedar Falls after their playoff semifinal win over Mason City Newman last week for a quick victory speech.

On to Week 15, he told his players, who whooped and hollered in response.

"That was a line that I'd been thinking about for quite some time," Allison said. "Of course, you never know. We'd never been to the championship game. But that was our goal this year, to be able to get to Week 15."

Week 15 concludes today when the top-ranked Lions (13-0) play No. 2 West Hancock (12-1) in the Class A state championship game. Kickoff is 2:05 at the UNI-Dome.

It's been an unbelievable fall for a senior-dominated team that kind of figured it had something special when it beat Class 1A semifinalist West Branch way back in Week 2. There's that coach speak again. 

"Coming into the season, we were pretty confident in what we could do," said senior receiver Jordan Bahl. "But, really, nothing is guaranteed, so we had to go out and practice hard every day. Our goal was to win our last game of the season, and now we're at that point where we have the opportunity to do that."

Other than that 10-point win over West Branch, Lisbon blew through its regular season, piling up overwhelming victories like 80-0 over Danville, 61-0 over Winfield-Mount Union and 90-0 over New London. The postseason hasn't been as easy, of course, but the Lions have beaten every opponent by at least 11 points.

"To be honest, no," said outstanding senior lineman Tyler Smith, when asked if he saw this ride coming. "I mean, I knew we were going to be a really good team. We had a lot of returning guys coming back from last season. But to say we were going to make it all the way to the state championship game, no, I honestly didn't think we'd do that.

"But we did it, and I'm proud of everybody."

This has been a true team, with significant contributions from so many players. Little Ruger Hutchison (all 5-foot-7, 130 pounds of him), for instance, filled in at defensive tackle at times and made some big stops in the semifinals.

Six different guys carried the ball in that game, with Ben Knake and Tait Simpson both seeing time at quarterback. Knake injured a knee in the quarterfinals against Lone Tree but looked completely healthy against Newman, throwing a long touchdown pass to Bahl that was a game breaker.

"It feels really good. Once I get blood flowing in it, it's really nice. No problems," Knake said. "A lot of prayer for my knee. Then we have our trainer, Mike Reiling, he always helps us out with everything. He did a really nice job getting me ready to go."

And they're ready to go today. Collectively, of course, with many of them carrying red-dyed Mohawk playoff haircuts.

"It's team. They are a team," Allison said. "I mean this sincerely, every coach should be able to coach a team like this. They care for each other, they work together, they get along with each other. Every guy in the coaching profession should have a team like this. I'm very honored to have these kids."

LISBON vs. WEST HANCOCK

Class A title game

When, where: 1:05 p.m. today, UNI-Dome, Cedar Falls

Records, rank: No. 2 West Hancock is 12-1, top-ranked Lisbon 13-0

TV: KFXA

Radio: KKSY-FM (95.7)

Noteworthy: This is the first title game for Lisbon, which defeated Mason City Newman in last week's semifinals, 24-10. West Hancock outscored Madrid in the semifinals, 48-38, and is seeking its third championship (1973 and 1996). Lisbon has excelled on defense, allowing an average of just 6.1 points in its 13 games, 33 of the 79 total in one game. The Lions were able to slow Newman's running attack and will see another ground-dominated foe today. West Hancock has thrown all of 36 passes (completing 15). The Eagles are led by brothers Chris and Zach Scleuger, who have combined for 3,927 rushing yards and 69 touchdowns. Lisbon spreads the football around to several players, with Tait Simpson leading the way with 1,100 rushing yards. Quarterback Ben Knake has thrown for 987 yards and 12 TDs.