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Blue Devils like the taste of being champs

LISBON — To the victors go the spoils, or in this case spaghetti.

Lisbon gained its first conference title since 1999 and won the Inter-Tri County League White Division outright with its 46-0 victory over Leetonia, Friday during the annual Spaghetti Bowl.

“We’ve always been close and all of us having been playing since we were little. Some people didn’t play throughout high school but came back their senior year. Its kind of been a big group that needed this and deserved this. Its a big win with a big family,” said Lisbon quarterback Colin Sweeney. “It means a lot and we feel like we deserved it and we got it. Now it’s ours.”

Lisbon is now 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the ITCL White Divison.

The Blue Devils, whose 1999 title was earned in the old Tri-County League, are now the final winners of the Inter-Tri County League White Division which will disband at the conclusion of the 2016-17 school year.

“Its or first outright since 1998, we tied in 1999 with United,” said Tsilimos. “We challenged our kids to go out and be focused because the whole week we talked about winning it outright and not having a let down. They went out and played well executing the game plan on all three phases.”

Leading the way for Lisbon were seniors Jason Thompson and Sweeney.

Leetonia (1-8, 0-4)  struggled to contain Thompson all night on both sides of the ball. Offensively he churned out a team high 67 yards on five carries, with three touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, Thompson had his sights focused on Leetonia quarterback Brock Simpson, sacking him three times. On the one sack he was joined by his brother Dougie Minor.

“We had a little race because we like to make it fun,” said Thompson.

Minor also recorded a sack as did Cameron Summers. The sacks gave Simpson -54 yards rushing on the night.

Sweeney only threw the ball three times during the water logged contest, but he made those passes count, completing all three for 74 yards. Two of those passes were for touchdowns, the first was a 15 yard completion to Seth Stokes and the second turned into a 56 yard score by David Toot. Rushing wise, Sweeney had 56 yards on two carries with one touchdown. Stokes also scored on a 35 yard punt return during the second quarter.

“It was a huge win. Its emotional, its hard to think that this is the late time that we’re going to play on this field,” said senior Jason Thompson. “It is exhilarating. We haven’t done this in years and it feels so good.”

Lisbon finished the night with 290 total yards.

“Round up the usual suspects and thats who performed for us. They’ve done it every week and every game,” said Tsilimos.

The Blue Devils’ defense was stingy all night, holding the Bears to -9 yards total and only four first downs.

The Bears never seemed to be able to sustain forward movement during the first half as they only managed one first down, gained on a Lisbon penalty. Lisbon’s defense only allowed the Bears onto their half of the field once during those opening quarters. Colin Sweeney lost the wet ball while attempting to down a punt and Leetonia recovered on the Lisbon 46. Even with the field position the Bears only mustered a quick three and out.

They did begin to gain some traction in the second half but the 33-0 halftime deficet was too much to overcome. Leading Leetonia was Dustin Deffenbaugh with 23 yards on four rushes and Simpson who was 2-of-7 for 24 yards.

Even though they held the trophy in their hands and they know the playoffs are in sight, the Blue Devils still know they have one more game regular season game to play. They will travel to Crestview on Friday.

“They’re very good. They have athletes, they have size and they have speed. They’re a good challenge for us and we’re going to have to be ready to play them,” said Tsilimos.

His sentiment was shared by Thompson and Sweeney.

“Its not an easy win at all but I believe we can do it. We have to prepare this week, get our minds in the right place,” said Thompson.

“We don’t take anybody lightly. We didn’t come in here and take them (Leetonia) lightly. Crestview is a good team and we have to prepare for them,” said Sweeney.

Leetonia will host Columbiana next week.

Game notes

¯Lisbon won 17 TCL titles. This is their first ITCL title.

LEETONIA: 0-0-0-0–0

LISBON: 7-26-13-0–46

SCORING

LI –Seth Stokes 15 pass from Colin Sweeney (Justin Sweeney kick)

LI — David Too 56 pass from Colin Sweeney (Justin Sweeney kick)

LI — Colin Sweeney 38 run (kick failed)

LI — Seth Stokes 35 punt return (kick failed)

LI — Jason Thompson 14 run (Justin Sweeney kick)

LI — Thompson 19 run (Justin Sweeney kick)

LI — Thompson 21 run (kick failed)

——

LE LI

First downs 4 13

Total Yards -9 290

Rushes-yards 31-(-)33 26-216

Passing 24 74

Comp-Att-Int 2-7-0 3-3-0

Punts x-x x-x

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1

Penalties-Yards 4-22 4-44

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Leetonia, Dustin Deffenbaugh 4-23; Lisbon, Jason Thompson 5-67, Colin Sweeney 2-56, Cameron Summers 6-34.

PASSING–Leetonia, Brock Simpson 2-7-24-0, 24; Lisbon, Colin Sweeney 3-3-74-0.

RECEIVING–Leetonia, Michael Buffone 1-16, Tanner Barr 1-8; Lisbon, David Toot 1-56, Seth Stokes 1-15, Seth Davis 1-3.

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