Lisbon’s Ashton Hinchliffe races down the field ahead of East Canton’s Aiden Kandel on Friday. (Morning Journal/Gary Leininger)

EAST CANTON — The Lisbon Blue Devils brought their own bag of tricks and treats in their playoff game at East Canton on Halloween. However, the Devils struggled to contain the Hornets’ offense in the first quarter in a disappointing 28-21 loss in the first round of the Division VII, Region 25 playoffs Friday.

With the loss, the 10th-seeded Devils close the 2025 season with a 6-5 record, 4-3 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. It also marked the first playoff appearance for head coach Bill Meek and the Devils’ fourth in the past six years.

“They fought in every single game that they played this year,” Blue Devils coach Bill Meek said. “They played with class. So many times, this year, the officials told us how good our kids are. Not a problem at all, and they play hard. To be honest, I’m more proud of that than anything. It’s more important than wins and losses to me.”

“I’m very thankful,” senior Marc Moore said. “I didn’t play last year, as some people may know. I went through a lot of adversity, but Coach Meek never gave up on me, so I gave it everything I had for these guys this year.”

The seventh-seeded Hornets improved to 8-2 on the year and will advance to the second round of the playoffs, where they will face the Fairport Harbor Skippers next Friday night. Fairport knocked off the Blue Devils 49-6 in week 2 of the regular season.

The Hornets scored on their first two possessions of the game as they built a 14-0 lead by the 5:18 mark of the first quarter. The Hornets scored on a 29-yard pass from quarterback Owen McCroskey to Aydan Stephens and a 4-yard run by Dillon Anderson to give them a two-score advantage.

But the Devils started to gain traction as the game progressed, answering midway through the second frame on a nifty trick play. Ashton Hinchliffe rolled to his right and then stopped and threw back to quarterback Grant Minor for a 24-yard touchdown at the 6:42 mark to cut the deficit to 14-7.

“I honestly think their size when we looked across the line kind of got us a little bit. They started really, really fast, and we were trying to catch up,” Meek said. “But as the first half wore on, we were catching and coming off the ball, and I think we get a real lift out of that.”

Unfortunately, the Hornets answered with a 4-yard touchdown pass a little over two minutes later. McCroskey connected with Stephens again, pushing their lead back out to 14 points at 21-7.

After passing for a touchdown, Hinchliffe rushed for one on the Devils’ next possession. He scored on a 4-yard run with just 1:20 remaining in the first half to get the Devils back to a one-score deficit at 21-14.

“We thought that they were very tired at the end of the first half,” Moore said. “So, we just played our tails off, but unfortunately, we didn’t win. We gave it our all.”

The Hornets racked up 310 total yards in the game, 116 on the ground and another 194 in the air. The Devils accumulated 344 total yards, with 103 coming on the ground and 241 yards passing.

“We haven’t played good defense all year,” Meek said. “But tonight, against a really explosive offensive team, we definitely put in our best performance to hold them to 28 points. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.”

Senior running back Ashton Hinchliffe led the Devils with 101 yards rushing on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns, along with 5 receptions for 103 yards. Grant Minor was 12 of 24 passing in the game for 217 yards.

“They are great players,” Moore said. “Those two are the best players I have ever played with.”

As well as the offenses played in the first half, the defenses started to take control in the second half. It looked as if the Devils may have seized the momentum when they forced the Hornets to turn the ball over on downs at their own 39 on the first possession of the second half. However, the Devils suffered two penalties and were forced to punt the ball back to the Hornets.

“That was big, but you have to give credit to them,” Meek said. We struggled in that series, and it really tightened up defensively in the second half. It became a real struggle there in the second half.”

Two possessions later, the Hornets were able to put the pressure on the Devils with a 2-yard touchdown run by Anderson with 6:13 left in the game. That pushed the Hornets’ lead back to 14, at 28-14.

The Devils showed a lot of heart as they battled to the end, scoring once more in answering the Hornets on a 74-yard, 13-play drive with Hinchliffe blasting into the end zone with 1:34 left in the contest.

Unfortunately for the Devils, the ensuing onside kick fell into the arms of a Hornets defender, and they were able to run out the clock to capture the victory.

“I’ve had these kids since seventh grade, and they are really special to me,” an emotional coach Meek said. “I’ve never had a team that long. I’m sad to see it end, but I’m also so proud of them.”

L: 0-14-0-7–21

EC: 14- 7-0-7–28

SCORING

EC-Ayden Stephens 29 pass from Owen McCrosky (Canaan Pollard Kick)

EC-Dillon Anderson 4 run (Pollard Kick)

L-Grant Minor 24 pass from Ashton Hinchliffe (Baylen Jackson Kick)

EC-Stephens 3 pass from McCrosky (Pollard Kick)

L-Hinchliffe 4 run (Jackson Kick)

EC-Anderson 2 run (Pollard Kick)

L-Hinchliffe 1 run (Jackson Kick)

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L EC

First downs 20 18

Total Yards 344 310

Rushes-yards 37-103 22-116

Passing 241 194

Comp-Att-Int 13-25-0 14-24-0

Punts-Avg. 3-20 2-43.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 4-50 8-87

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Lisbon, Ashton Hinchliffe 22-101; East Canton, Dillon Anderson 16-91.

PASSING–Lisbon, Grant Minor 12-24-217-0-0, Ashton Hinchliffe 1-1-24-1-0; East Canton, Owen McCrosky 14-24-194-2-0.

RECEIVING–Lisbon, Ashton Hinchliffe 5-103, Wyatt Newbold 3-78, Grant Minor 1-24, Brady Lively 2-20; East Canton, Aydan Stephens 10-115.