The Lisbon Lions varsity football squad dropped their first contest of the season 12-6 to the West Branch Bears Aug. 27 at home.
“I thought the effort the kids displayed was exactly what I wanted,” said Lisbon head coach Phil Whitman. “We’ve got things to work on offensively, defensively, special teams.
“We now can go back and watch film, break stuff down, and fix the mistakes that we made,” he said.
“Our effort was great. Defensively, I think we played a great game. We made some mental errors. We’ve just got to clean things up,” said Whitman.
The Lions started the game with the first possession, with Gavin Wollum, a senior, at the quarterback position.
An incomplete pass on fourth and goal turned it over to the Bears on their own five yard line.
Carver Boelk, a junior for the Bears, had a couple of big plays, gaining 15 yards on one of his runs, but the team could not capitalize on their possession as time ran out on the first quarter.
The two teams exchanged ownership of the ball four times before West Branch took control in the last two minutes of the half with a successful drive.
The Bears completed a pass deep in Lions territory to set up first and goal on the Lisbon five yard line with two seconds remaining. Andy Henson carried the ball through the defense for a touchdown at the buzzer.
When the Bears failed on a two-point conversion attempt, they took a 6-0 lead into the half.
West Branch had a long offensive campaign in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but were thwarted by some key defensive plays from the Lions. Will Bennett sacked the quarterback on third and eight with nine minutes left, and when the Bears fumbled the ball and recovered it on Lisbon’s five yard line, Indy Harbaugh stopped them from scoring with a crucial tackle just short of the goal.
On a typically warm and humid season opener, the players were getting into game shape. Penalties and leg cramps were peppered throughout the game, with two cramps affecting the Bears in the third quarter.
The Lions and the Bears each had unsuccessful drives before West Branch’s Cash Woody picked off a pass in the quarter’s remaining seconds, returning it for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead.
Again, the team’s two-point conversion attempt was thwarted by the Lions.
Lisbon opened the fourth quarter with a failed drive, and West Branch soon went nowhere with their own drive.
The Lions controlled the ball with just under six minutes left in the game, starting off with it deep in Bear country before a third and 10 pass to Mathias Kohl from Cohen Kamaus.
Kohl was heavily defended by Bears, but he made the catch. He was bumped to the sideline, but he stayed just within bounds and ran the field for a 59-yard touchdown.
A conversion attempt was stopped, but the Lions had now made it 12-6.
“He made a nice catch,” said Whitman.
“Cohen threw him a good ball, his footwork down the sideline was unreal, and he just outran everybody.”
The Bears had the game’s last possession, ultimately running down the clock and holding onto the win.
The North Cedar Knights will travel to Lisbon Friday, Sept. 3.
“I’m excited to get it going,” Whitman said.
He predicted “a big improvement from us” from week one to two.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Trent Bowman

High humidity affected some players in their first game with several West Branch players having to leave the field because of cramps.