Lisbon features a multi-faceted offense with a lot of new weapons in the passing game, and it showed some of that in a 30-0 win over Durant on Friday, Aug. 30, at Walmer Field.
But they also have Tiernan Boots.
The senior running back ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, helping put the Wildcats away in the second half.
“What you see out of Tiernan Boots is what you get,” Lisbon Coach Dylan Hastings said. “He’s a hammer. He’s a horse. He’s got those low legs.”
Boots had 78 yards and a TD on 10 carries in the first half. Lisbon led at half, 10-0. It was a simple decision to opt for more of that.
“I mean, it was working, so …” Boots said. “We just do what we do.”
Senior quarterback Dakota Clark is being asked to air it out a little more this year. He has some new weapons on the outside, including 6-foot-6 Grayson Wollum (2 catches, 25 yards) and 6-foot-4 Daylin Schaefer (2-10). But handing it off or pitching it to Boots, was a no-brainer.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Clark said. “We ran what was working. We ran it down their throat and put points up on the board.”
And the Lions did it behind a rebuilt offensive line that features left tackle junior Nathan Anderson (6-3, 210), left guard senior Evan Coleman (6-0, 205), center senior Ethan Hoekstra (6-0, n/a), right guard senior Jacob Walerius (5-9, 205), and right tackle senior Hayden Jackson (6-5, 315).
The group was stung by five holding penalties, but moved some big Wildcat defenders around, as well.
“We’re replacing some guys on the O-line and we had to have some conversations at halftime,” Hastings said. “That’s the good thing about this group, they are coachable, and are able to make adjustments. In the second half our offensive line blocked a lot better.”
And really, the 23-yard field goal by senior Gage Holub in the first quarter ended up being all the scoring Lisbon needed. They shut out the Wildcats, and held them to 92 total yards and just four first downs.
“Our defense was tough,” Boots said. “We’re going to stay tough and going to get tougher.”
“It was nice to hit some other guys,” Clark added. “We really laid the boom on them tonight.”
Hastings said the Lions always take pride in their defense, and use the motto, S.O.S. – Swarm. Offend. Suffocate.
“We’re a very aggressive defense. We are going to bring it at you,” Hastings said. “When we get in a tough situation, that’s a momentum boost when you can stuff a team and hold them.”
Durant (0-1) hurt itself with a bad punt team. A high snap on its first punt gave Lisbon the ball at the Wildcat 35. That led to the field goal. The next punt by Durant senior Isaac Nielsen was a squib that rolled backward and ended up going for zero yards. That gave the Lions the ball on the Durant 25. That drive ended in a fumble.
Later in the first half, Lisbon finally started on their own end, and put together a 13-play, 64-yard drive, capped with a Boots TD run of four yards on fourth-and-1. The 10-0 halftime lead might have made a few fans ner- vous, given that the Lions thumped the Wildcats 42-0 last season in Durant.
“That’s a great team and they’ve got some big boys,” Hastings said. “I’m proud of the way our boys adjusted. That first week game, you don’t quite know what you are going to get. The boys adjusted really well.”
The Lions got the ball coming out of halftime and went on a 10-play, 55-yard drive that ended with Clark sneaking it in from the one. Lisbon added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter from Boots to put the game away.
“It didn’t feel like a 30-0 game,” Boots said. “They are a stronger team than last year. We are always progressing, getting better. We kept pushing tonight, and got better each play.”
Clark, who took a few pictures with young fans while walking off the field, was impressed by how the Lions kept grinding away.
“We have a lot of work to do, we all know that,” said Clark, who had 85 yards rushing and 84 yards passing. “We’ve still got a lot to learn. We’re good. We’ll push through it.”
The season continues with a Week 2 game at Louisa-Mus- catine. The Lions beat them last season 55-0, and the Falcons opened the year with a 70-0 loss to Tipton.
“The boys will be ready to rock and roll,” Hastings said. “Next week, we want to go 1-0 again.”