Bill Hardwick Bill Hardwick tries to break free from a Lisbon tackler after catching one of eight passes on Saturday. (Photo Keith Alley)

Early in the fourth period on Saturday, the Lisbon Greyhounds had ended a long, time-consuming drive by the Seahawks with an interception and enjoyed a 25-8 advantage on the scoreboard.

If the outlook looked bleak at that point, the Seahawk defense held Lisbon and forced a punt, but Boothbay fumbled the punt and gave the Greyhounds excellent field position.

From that point the Greyhounds seemed to self destruct as they lost three yards on first down and seven more on second down as Mike Norton of Boothbay made the stop in the backfield. On third down, the offense was called for delay of game before the Seahawks got the play they needed when Jesse Erskine picked off a pass and returned it to midfield.

On first down, Will Carroll completed one of nine passes to Bill Hardwick on the day for a gain of 14 yards. Carroll would connect with Hardwick on a second down play from the Lisbon 14-yard line as he finished the day connecting on 10 of 22 passes. Max Arsenault picked up three yards on the following play and then scored the touchdown on a one- yard plunge to give the Seahawks some life as they trailed 25-14, but with only 2:23 to play in the game.

Onside kick number one worked to perfection as Arsenault's kick bounced high into the air where William Pratt was waiting to outmuscle a Lisbon player for the ball.

With the ball and a little momentum, the Seahawks picked up two yards on first down on a keeper by Will and then nine on a run by Max. A pass to Big Bill picked up five more before Taylour Russell broke a 30-yard touchdown run that suddenly cut the Lisbon lead to five. The two-point conversion on a pass from Carroll to Hardwick, their second of the day, cut the lead to just three with 1:14 left in the game.

After Boothbay recovered another onside kick, they now had the time to pull off one of the biggest comebacks in a long time. Carroll picked up seven yards on a keeper but an incomplete pass on second down, and a loss of two on third down, set up a crucial fourth down. Alex Rand picked up the needed yardage and kept the drive alive.

Now at the Lisbon 12-yard line, Carroll spiked the ball to stop the clock on first down and then threw the ball three more times but they all fell incomplete as a great comeback fell just short.

The reason the Seahawks were battling from behind all day came early in the first period as two fumbles led to two quick scores by the Greyhounds.

After receiving the opening kick-off, the Seahawks fumbled on the third play from scrimmage. It took the visiting `Hounds just four plays before Ron Rivers scored from six yards out.

Same senario on the next series for Boothbay as they fumbled on the third play giving Lisbon the ball at the 27-yard line. This time the Seahawks nearly held as the Greyhounds had to pick up 14 yards on a fourth down pass that moved the ball to the one-yard line. Joey Schrieber scored a play later to give the Greyhounds a 12-0 lead as they failed on both two-point tries.

Needing a score in a big way, the Seahawks started at their own 20-yard line and mixed the pass and run well as Carroll was successful on five of five passes. The latter pass on the drive went to Hardwick and moved the ball to the Lisbon 12. Rand picked up five and Russell six before Arsenault scored from a yard out to cut the Lisbon lead to 12-8 after Carroll and Hardwick hooked up for the two-point conversion.

The Greyhounds were moving the ball again, looking to stretch their lead before intermission. But after moving deep into Seahawk territory they turned the ball over on a fumble.

The Seahawks, however, gave the ball right back on an interception by Schrieber on second down.

The Greyhounds again threatened as they pounded Schrieber up the middle to move the ball inside the ten. On a crucial fourth down play, the Seahawk defense came up big and forced an incomplete by Doughty.

With an opportunity to just run out the first half clock, Boothbay opted to move the ball through the air and the result was another near interception, a near safety and a punt from the end line of the end zone.

Rivers returned the punt for an apparent touchdown but a clipping penalty nullified the score. However with still time to put points on the board, on second down from the Boothbay 21-yard line, Chad Doughty connected with Josh Willy for a back-breaking score with two seconds on the clock.

With the tough loss his club slipped to 5-2, but head coach Tim Rice found a lot to be proud of in the effort.

"I just think it was a great comeback and shows what these kids are really made of," said Rice. "They were put in a bad position but really worked hard in that fourth period. You're proud of these games, win or lose."

With some big games in the near future and some situations that may call for the same sort of hurry up offense, this may have helped the Seahawks down the road.

"You need these type of games, they help build character," said Rice. "This situation helps you to think things through in a hurry, to make the correct play at the right situation. And our kids did just that as they put themselves in a position to win that game.

"This was just an outstanding effort by everyone on this team. The offensive and defensive line both came up big, especially in the fourth period. The backs and receivers had a great day, the whole team matured out there on Saturday and that is how you build playoff teams.

"This week we travel to Oak Hill for another big game as they are also 5-2. We need to play hard and well, and build off of this."