WALES — The Oak Hill football team is headed back to the Class D state championship – barely.
The Raiders nearly let a 21-0 halftime advantage slip away, but a botched extra point by Lisbon and tough running from quarterback Dalton Therrien in the final six minutes allowed Oak Hill to hang on for a 21-20 win in the Class D South final on a cold, windy Saturday afternoon.
Top-seeded Oak Hill (10-0) will face Maine Central Institute (10-0), the North champion, at 7 p.m. Friday at the University of Maine. It’s a rematch of last season’s state final, which Oak Hill won, 41-21. The Raiders have won 20 straight and are seeking their third consecutive state championship, but they were pushed to the limit by second-seeded Lisbon (7-3).
“Making it back to states is everything. A lot of people don’t get to do that once in their whole career,” said Therrien, who rushed for three touchdowns and 130 yards on 25 carries. “The team I’m on is blessed enough to go three times, so I don’t think the guys take that for granted. They know what they have to do, we know what we want, and we’re going to go get it.”
Trailing 21-0 at halftime, Lisbon stormed back in the second half and had a chance to tie the game with 5:18 remaining after a 19-yard touchdown run by Noah Francis.
On the extra-point attempt, however, a mistimed snap prevented Lisbon from kicking the ball. The holder, quarterback Tyler Halls, tried to pass for the 2-point conversion, but his attempt was batted down.
Lisbon never got the ball back. Therrien carried nine straight times and picked up three first downs to run out the clock.
“I told the kids at halftime that we’ve been in this situation before and they’re going to make a run. … They got back in the game and found a couple things offensively that we had a hard time with,” Oak Hill Coach Stacen Doucette said.
“I told the kids somebody was going to make a big play and we’re going to find a way. The big play was the extra point.”
Oak Hill took the lead early in the second quarter. Therrien connected with Connor Nilsson for a diving 21-yard catch on fourth-and-8 from the 26. Two plays later, Therrien ran it in for a 7-0 lead.
The ensuing kickoff squirted through Shawn Grover’s legs, pinning the Greyhounds at their own 4. On the next play, Halls was pressured by Austin Goucher and Connor Elwell in his own end zone and threw the ball up as he was hit, resulting in an interception by Darryn Bailey. Therrien soon scored on an 8-yard run to make it 14-0.
After a Lisbon three-and-out, Therrien orchestrated an 11-play, 52-yard drive, capped by his 1-yard plunge.
The Greyhounds were limited to 52 yards in the first half.
But Lisbon got the spark it needed in the third quarter when Halls launched a pass deep downfield to Henry Adams, who made an easy grab for a 42-yard gain after Therrien lost his footing in coverage. The long reception set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Francis – who finished with 20 carries for 94 yards. Less than two minutes later, Therrien threw his first interception of the season, and Adams returned it deep into Oak Hill territory. Halls scored on a 5-yard run to make it 21-14 with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
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