Lisbon shakes off sloppy start, rolls to first-round win

LISBON - The opening kick nearly spelled disaster for Lisbon in its opening-round victory Wednesday night over Lone Tree.

Lisbon's Ryan Light shot up the middle and looked poised for a big return. Then the ball tumbled out of his hands and landed at the Lisbon 40-yard line. Lone Tree and Lisbon players piled on the ball, but Lisbon retained possession and eventually cruised to a 40-0 victory.

'We had a fake reverse on,” said Lisbon Coach Kent Allison. 'I'm thinking it's going pretty well, he's right in the middle of the field, then the ball squirts out of his hands. But our kids hustled.”

The ball continued to bounce toward Lisbon. Two early scores put Lisbon in the driver's seat, and the Lions played keep away from Lone Tree most of the first half. Lisbon ran 36 offensive plays to Lone Tree's 18.

'Our running game was decent,” Allison said. 'Our play-action pass helped to soften them up a little bit, then we'd hit them some more.”

Lisbon scored less than three minutes into the first quarter. Light, listed as a wide receiver, lined up under center and scored on an 8-yard scramble. Four minutes later, Brock Givens connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Robinson. Lisbon kept that drive alive with Light's run for 6 yards and a first down on a fake punt on fourth-and-5.

'The fake was supposed to be a throw,” Light said. 'That got blown up, and I saw the window and I just went for it.”

A pair of Benton Frey touchdowns in the second quarter gave Lisbon a 28-0 halftime lead. Givens hit Light on a 32-yard strike late in the third for his ninth touchdown of the year.