“Where’s Kurtis?” several Greyhounds asked.

Kurtis Bolton was still receiving congratulatory hugs and handshakes for his 55-yard reception on a desperation heave from Tyler Halls that put Lisbon at the 1-yard line with four seconds remaining.

“I went down, beat the defenders, one of them tipped it,” Bolton said. “I just reached my hands out and pulled it in, and I knew the game was changed right then and there.”

Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan was surprised to see the 5-foot-8 Bolton end up with the ball.

“I don’t really know how Bolton came down with it,” Mynahan said. “You know, he was the shortest guy in the group, and he caught it, knew where to go.

“When I saw that, I just couldn’t believe it.”

Bolton caught the ball, then bolted toward the end zone, but was stopped at the 1. Noah Francis took it in from there, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 0.8 seconds left and giving Lisbon a 20-17 victory over Winthrop/Monmouth on Saturday at Maxwell Field.

“Where’s Kurtis?” was probably not the main question on the Ramblers’ mind when the Greyhounds took over at their own 44-yard line with less than 15 seconds to play. Winthrop wanted to cover everybody, yes, but was probably more concerned with Lisbon’s top receiver Tyrese Joseph, or they were wondering what Halls and the Francis brothers were doing.

Bolton? That guy hadn’t even touched the ball all game. His one touch, though, ended up changing everything.

“Kurtis, he’s our sneakiest, fastest, quickest player on this team, and he came through,” Halls said. “He’s a big player, I knew he had it in him.

“If there really was a position for Kurtis, it would be an athlete — just the A-to-the-T-to-the-H: athlete, all-around.”

Bolton, a senior, hardly touched the ball early in the season, but as it progressed he became increasingly involved in the offense as a runner and receiver.

“Kurtis came on about halfway through the season, and all of a sudden we gave him a player of the game award — we gave it to him one week and the next week he’s runner-up,” Mynahan said. “And I’m thinking, where’s Kurtis coming from? But, you know, he’s been catching the ball, he runs the ball for us, does a nice job.”

Taking all of that into consideration, Bolton figured he would be more involved Saturday against Winthrop/Monmouth.

“Coach started giving me the ball more,” Bolton said, “and I don’t know why he decided not to do it once today; I was getting a little irritated about that.”

It’s easy for players to feel underused when playing on the same team as Halls, a dual-threat quarterback, and physical runners such as Lucas and Noah Francis. Then there’s Jared Glover and Tyrese Joseph. That doesn’t leave many opportunities for a player like Bolton.

“I’ve never been somebody to make the big plays like that, until today,” Bolton said. “I’ve always been overlooked my whole life — too small, not good enough, stuff like that. But when the time comes, you got to do what you got to do.”

Rare finish

Mynahan has won a lot of games in a lot of different ways during his coaching career, but said Saturday’s finish was something new.

“Right now, I can’t think of any (finishes like that),” Mynahan said. “I can think of a lot where it came down to the last series or something like that, but never where you just throw it up for grabs.

“I think this might be the first one. The first one’s always the best one.”

Passing takes over

A funny thing happened on the way to the thrilling finish: the passing games took center stage.

Both Lisbon and Winthrop/Monmouth base their offenses on running the ball, and most of Saturday’s battle was waged in the trenches.

Of course, there was the 55-yard pass and catch from Halls to Bolton, but Winthrop also used the pass down the stretch.

Early in the fourth quarter, trailing 8-3, the Ramblers kept facing passing downs, and each time, quarterback Matt Ingram found receiver Bennett Brooks. The first two resulted in third-down conversions, the second a diving one-handed catch by Brooks.

Then, Brooks broke free and Ingram threw a 44-yard touchdown over the top of the defense.

“I’ll give a shout out to Bennett Brooks,” Halls, who plays defensive back for Lisbon, said. “He’s a great route runner, great receiver. He’s the only receiver that has eaten me alive like that throughout the season.”

Winthrop continued to rely on Ingram. On the 11-play drive that gave the Ramblers a 17-14 lead with 16 seconds remaining, all 11 plays were passes (Ingram had to scramble for 8 yards on one play, but the rest were throws).

Ingram entered the fourth quarter having completed only two of his 10 pass attempts. He also lost two fumbles. But he came through in the fourth quarter, completing 9 of 13 passes for 135 yards and two scores.

“Sometimes he can put the brakes on and change if he’s having a tough game, and all of a sudden make plays like that,” Winthrop coach Dave St. Hilaire said. “That’s what he did.”