However, Monday night’s clash with cross-town rival Portland West was a different story.
Portland East dominated the first half and held on for a 16-6 victory at Edgar Johnson Stadium.
“I’ve been coaching for five years, and I hope to be coaching for 30 more,” Portland East first-year head coach Michael Reese – whose squad earned its first win of the season – said. “I’m going to have wins and losses all my life, but I really, really, really wanted us to win for them to have a win, to show them the work has paid off.”
Reese’s squad scored on two of its first three possessions.
A fumbled exchange in the backfield on Portland West’s second possession was recovered by Portland East defensive lineman Dylan Kephart at the Portland West 21 yard line.
Following a five-yard penalty, Portland East quarterback Dawson Simmons threw a middle screen pass to wide receiver Hunter Brown, who maneuvered his way to the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown.
Simmons bulled his way through a pack of players and into the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt.
Portland West fumbled again on its next play from scrimmage, and Nathan Lightfoot recovered for Portland East.
Simmons completed passes on four of the following six plays, including a 20-yard gain to Austin Hardy.
On a fourth-and-six play from the 10 yard line, Hardy made a falling catch in the end zone, and that duo connected on the conversion pass as well, creating a 16-point margin late in the first quarter.
Simmons completed 12 of 21 passes for 105 yards, and Brown, Hardy and Lightfoot all caught four passes.
“We’ve been working on a lot of that the last couple of weeks,” Reese said of the team’s no-huddle, spread offense. “It helped with the game getting pushed back (due to rain last Tuesday, which postponed it until Monday), giving us more time to work on some things.”
Brown recovered a fumble on Portland West’s next offensive possession, but it didn’t lead to another touchdown.
“At any level of football, if you make mistakes and have turnovers, it’s going to be hard to win a football game,” Portland West head coach Kyle Lane said. “We made mistakes, and they capitalized. It’s what good teams do.”
Portland West’s Austin Mullen intercepted a pass deep in his own territory later in the half, and Portland West then mounted a 15-play drive that lasted for the final 5:11 of the half.
Cody Ward had three first-down carries on the possession, and Trevor Settles’ 6-yard run with less than a minute remaining moved the football to the Portland East 7 yard line.
Big stuff
However, on the final play of the half (a fourth-and-goal play), Portland West quarterback Dalton Smallwood was tackled by Kephart and Nic Watson for no gain at the 1 yard line.“I didn’t have a timeout there,” Lane said. “It was fourth down, and we just didn’t get in. They made a great effort. Our quarterback gave good effort. We just didn’t get in.”
Portland West defensive back Carter Hunt intercepted a deflected pass on the opening possession of the second half, and the two teams traded punts before Portland West’s offense threatened again, putting together a 13-play progression that covered 86 yards.
That series included carries of 17 and 12 yards by Settles and completions of 20 and 17 yards to Settles before he left the game due to an injury.
A third-down sack by Brown and Kephart created a fourth-and-13 play from the Portland East 18 yard line, and though Braxton Bolding caught a pass on the fourth-down play, he was tackled two yards short of the first down.
“Cody Ward got to play (on Monday) for the first time since week 2, the Hawkins game,” Lane – whose squad remained winless with the loss – said. “He gives us that speed element. Cody was picking up some yards, but East did a good job of stopping our jet sweep. That’s one of our big-play plays.
“When you don’t get that 30- or 40-yard gain, it’s hard to punch it in at this level in middle school.”
Reese added, “Our two biggest things was don’t give them anything. Make them earn it, and if they do get something, pick each other up. When we did have things go wrong, I saw a lot of patting on the back. A bad thing happened. They drove down the field. We could have laid down right there, but we kept fighting.”
Portland West regained possession with 62 seconds remaining and scored three plays later, on a 15-yard pass from Smallwood to Ryan Smith.
However, Bolding was forced out of bounds by Ryan Brewster on the conversion run, and Portland East’s Zane Gaither recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win.
Ward finished with a game-high 68 yards rushing on 12 carries, and Settles carried the football nine times for 51 yards and caught two passes for 37 yards. Smith also caught two passes, and Smallwood completed 5 of 11 passes for 71 yards.
Ending with a win
Portland East concluded its season by winning for the second straight evening, capturing a 32-16 victory over visiting Knox Doss Middle at Drakes Creek on Tuesday evening at Edgar Johnson Stadium.The contest was tied at 16 at halftime.
Simmons threw a pair of touchdown passes to Brown, a 15-yarder in the first quarter and an 18-yarder to place the host squad in front in the third.
Lonnie White had a 57-yard touchdown run for Portland East in the second quarter, and teammate Austin Hardy ripped off a 30-yard scoring run in the final period.
The Panthers were successful on all four two-point conversion attempts, with Simmons throwing two conversion passes to Brown, another to Nathan Lightfoot and running one into the end zone.
Keshawn Whitaker had a hand in both touchdowns for the Mustangs, producing a 10-yard TD run in the first quarter and throwing a 26-yard, halfback pass to Steven Biggerstaff for a second-quarter score.
Chris Peach had successful two-point conversion runs following each touchdown.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20121012/GALLATIN02/310120044/East-betters-rival-West-battle-Portland-teams
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