The Ramblers have allowed only 72 points (nine per game), and only twice have teams have scored more than once — Lisbon (12) in the season opener and Oak Hill (22) in the fifth week.

At the heart of it all is a unit of senior linebackers: Alec Brown and Jack Vickerson in the middle, and Andrew Pazdziorko and Antonio Meucci on the outside.

“They certainly personify our defense because we’re a fast, physical team, and it starts with those guys,” Winthrop/Monmouth coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “We’ve got some good defensive ends, we can go speed or beef with the tackles, but it really starts with those linebackers.

“They flow … well to the ball, they’re just so fast, physical, that they can play off blocks, shed blocks and come up and make sticks. We don’t sit back as ’backers, we attack. And they really set the tone that way.”

The tone will be as important as ever Saturday afternoon when the Ramblers (8-0) host Lisbon (7-1) for the Class D South championship at Maxwell Field at 12:30 p.m.

The linebackers and many of the Winthrop seniors have been facing off against Lisbon since they were in grade school, and many times when the stakes were high.

“We’ve had a rivalry forever,” Meucci said. “Both of these teams have been in championships together.”

Adds Pazdziorko: “What was it, fourth grade? Sixth grade? Eighth grade?”

The big-game showdowns haven’t gone well for the Ramblers.

“They spanked us really good in those championship games,” St. Hilaire, who served as an assistant coach for those youth football teams, said. “It’s one that … we know that they’re the team that we need to beat.”

Now, as 12th-graders, the Winthrop linebackers are well aware of what they’re facing Saturday in the Class D South regional championship — “We know them as names, and not just numbers,” Meucci said. — and they know what they need to do.

“Communication, prepare for anything, physicality, mental toughness,” Pazdziorko said. “Just everything you can imagine, we’ll need.”

Winthrop has already defeated Lisbon once this season, 31-12, in the first week. Since then, the Greyhounds have scored at least 30 points in every game, averaging 36.9 points over seven games. In the season opener, the Ramblers contained Lisbon quarterback Tyler Halls and didn’t get run over by running backs Noah and Lucas Francis. They Greyhounds had to work for all 12 of their points.

“If they score on us, we want to make them work for it, which is what we did the last time,” St. Hilaire said. “We can’t give up big plays. If they score, they’ve got to earn it.”

Though the Winthrop linebackers have been playing together for several years, they haven’t always been linebackers.

Brown is the exception, although he did spend some time at defensive end in early 2015. He leads the Ramblers in rushing (101 carries for 679 yards and 15 touchdowns), but wasn’t always a defensive standout.

“Alec’s our tough tackler, fiery leader,” St. Hilaire said.

“Alec was one that, I didn’t consider him a real strong defensive player growing up, but last year he turned the corner.”

The other three starters have found a place at linebacker either because it’s a better fit for them, or other positions were filled and the Winthrop coaches wanted to have their best 11 players on the field.

Pazdziorko was a defensive end before moving to linebacker early last season. He’s the most athletic of the group.

“Andrew’s our best defensive player,” St. Hilaire said. “If we had him at safety, he’d be our best safety. He was a D-end last year, and I think he sacked Tyler Halls three times or four times the first game (of the season).

“He is playing the last four, five weeks with an edge. He was always a good player, but some of the opponents, they’ve pissed him off, and he’s reacted to it. You kind of like seeing that edge.”

Meucci jokes that his switch to linebacker came because he wasn’t fast enough to play corner. St. Hilaire said the position magnifies Meucci’s skills.

“He’s one that, when he blitzes he’s got knack for getting in,” the coach said. “He can cover, he’s got really good hands; really smart football player, and can make plays.”

Vickerson has always kind of been a player without a position, but he’s finally found a home at inside linebacker. He’s the smallest of the linebackers, but also the most feisty.

“He’s absolutely crazy,” Meucci said. “He’ll go 100 percent every single time. He’s not afraid to get in there and hit somebody. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog, and that is definitely him.”

The linebackers are particularly proud of last week’s 38-8 win over Dirigo in the regional semifinals in which the Ramblers held the Cougars scoreless until the game’s final minute. St. Hilaire wouldn’t call it their best game, though.

“We haven’t played it yet,” St. Hilaire said. “We’ve had some good ones. The Dirigo one was pretty good, but we feel we haven’t played our best defensive game yet.”