LISBON — Daylight was escaping quickly, but the Lisbon football team practiced on.

Doing so was a privilege, and one that wasn’t lost on senior tight end Tyrese Joseph: The Greyhounds earned the right to practice in such conditions this week.

“It’s weird. We’ve dreamt about it and talked about it for so long, it’s weird to actually be here and be the only team practicing in the dark,” Joseph said near the end of Tuesday’s practice. “It’s everything I’ve wanted it to be. I’m just taking it all in and enjoying the last few days of practice.”

Lisbon is back in a state championship game for the first time since 2006, when they won the second of back-to-back Class C titles. The Greyhounds face MCI for the Class D title at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Joseph has been as important to Lisbon’s success as anyone this season.

“He’s big, the best hands I’ve seen in a long time, and he’s the best blocker on this team, too,” quarterback Tyler Halls said. “Put him everywhere, pretty much. He’s an all-around player.”

As a tight end, Joseph is relied on as a blocker and a receiver. He excels at both. The blocking expertise was developed through years of being an offensive lineman, starting when Joseph was in fourth grade.

The Greyhounds’ tend to run to the side where Joseph lines up. Sometimes too often.

“We run his side most of the time,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “I was talking to one coach this year, and I think out of, I thought he said 45 plays, we went 44 to his way. So we’re making sure we’re not doing that now, but he’s important to us in a lot of different ways.”

Joseph takes in seeing opposing defenses taking notice of which side he lines up.

“I embrace it. I like the challenge of defenses lining up different when they see me coming to certain sides. I like that,” Joseph said. “Like you’ll see them, like, ‘Line up on Tyrese. Line up on this side. Tyrese right, Tyrese left.’ I just embrace it; it’s fun to me.”

Joseph’s pass-catching skills come from years of playing catch with his dad, who Joseph said recognized his tight-end potential long before he became one.

“He’s got a great pair of hands, as good as I’ve ever had here at Lisbon,” Mynahan said. “When he gets the ball, he runs well with it; he can pick up the yardage he needs to get, he can run physically with the ball.

“Tyler throws a very hard ball. A lot of our kids have a hard time catching it, but he can rifle it in there and Tyrese can catch it.”

Joseph leads the Greyhounds with 30 receptions for more than 300 yards this season. He didn’t have any receptions in last week’s regional final win over Winthrop/Monmouth (although Halls did say that Joseph was the target of his desperate heave that was ultimately caught by Kurtis Bolton, which set up the game-winning touchdown). That’s life for a blocking tight end, and Joseph is fine with it.

“You got to kind of accept what your role is,” Joseph said. “I do catch some passes, but at the end of the day, I’m a good blocker, so that’s what I’ve got to do, just help the team out.

“I kind of just take advantage when I get the ball, try to make the best of it.”

So content with blocking is Joseph that Mynahan said he has yet to hear the senior complain about his lack of touches. However, the longtime coach added that the team is looking to get Joseph more involved in the offense Saturday against MCI.

“We have to find a way to give him the ball this week,” Mynahan said. “And that’s what we’re working on this week, trying to find a way to give him the ball. I think we have to in this game.

“MCI is a big team, a strong team. If we can’t run at them, then we want to be able to pass the ball.

“And I think we have a good passing attack. The only reason we haven’t passed a lot is we haven’t had to. But if we have to pass on Saturday, I feel confident that we can do that.”

There’s a third dimension to Joseph’s game: defense. He’s a fast and physical defensive lineman whose play, according to Mynahan, defies even his strong, 6-foot-2 stature. It’s a theme consistent in Joseph’s game: what you see is impressive, but what you get is even more so.

“On defense, especially, there’s no reason he can play as strong as he plays,” Mynahan said. “I’ve seen him take on double teams, and he’s got that determination that no one’s going to beat him. He’s really got a strong conviction that he’s not going to get beat.”