East Panthers fight to 16-6 finish over cross-town rival West Middle
By Rich Cook, Sports Writer
Published:
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 7:07 AM CDT
The Portland East Panthers struck twice in the first quarter Monday, Oct. 8, against Portland West, putting up 16 points on the scoreboard and rode that margin to their first victory of the season.
The East/West rivalry game was scheduled for Oct. 2, but was postponed to preserve good field conditions for the PHS Homecoming game. East Middle coach Michael Reese put the extra practice days to good use.
“The extra time to work on this game helped a ton,” he said. “We have been working on the no-huddle offense for a while and had a pretty good idea about how West would line up against us. The kids did a great job of not having any mental mistakes when we were in our hurry-up offense.”
While West was again plagued with early turnovers, fumbling away three of its first four possessions, the East Panthers capitalized. With just under four minutes to go in the first quarter, East quarterback Dawson Simmons hit Hunter Brown over the middle with a short pass from the West 26, then brown scampered into the end zone.
Less than two minutes later, on the sixth straight passing play from Simmons, the East QB connected with Austin Hardy. With 2:02 left in the first, Portland East led 16-0.
West threatened in the second quarter. Austin Mullen intercepted a Simmons pass at the West 24 yard line. Coach Kyle Lane’s squad used the final 5:11 of the quarter to march down the field, taking 15 plays to reach the East’s 1-yard line. West had first and goal at the 8 and pounded the ball with its running game, but failed to reach the goal line in four tries.
“We ran a couple of power plays with our Dalton (Smallwood, West’s quarterback),” Lane said. “He is our best short yardage runner. In that situation we will sometimes run sweeps, but East had done a really good job of stopping those, so we felt the power running game was our best option. We were out of timeouts and we were having to rush. I don't think it was a momentum killer, but at game’s end, that extra score could have been a difference maker.”
At the break, East led 16-0. That’s the way the score remained until the final minute of the fourth. East punted from its end zone, giving West incredible field position at the 15. On third down Smallwood passed to Ryan Smith for West’s only score, 16-6.
“Our defensive tackles (Danny Stout and Darrius Copeland) and inside linebackers (Zane Gaither and Lonnie White) did a great job of reading their keys,” said East’s Reese. “The thing I was most happy with on defense was all 11 of them were getting to the football all night. That’s what kept West out on the goal line at the end of the half and also on their conversion attempt (at game’s end).”
Lane was pleased with his defensive effort after the two East scores in the first quarter.
“After we stopped fumbling, the defense was able to play with better field position,” he noted. “We recorded two interceptions and tackled well. The defense could have benefited from more offensive consistency. However, they rode the momentum waves of the game and continued to play football. My hat goes off to Coach Reese and the East Panthers. They played a great game and are well deserving of this victory. Obviously we really wanted to win, but life doesn't always give us what we want. At the end of the day our players are learning things about themselves through defeat and we are all growing as men.”
West closes out the season at Rucker-Stewart Tuesday, October 9. East finishes the same night at home against Knox-Doss.
The East/West rivalry game was scheduled for Oct. 2, but was postponed to preserve good field conditions for the PHS Homecoming game. East Middle coach Michael Reese put the extra practice days to good use.
“The extra time to work on this game helped a ton,” he said. “We have been working on the no-huddle offense for a while and had a pretty good idea about how West would line up against us. The kids did a great job of not having any mental mistakes when we were in our hurry-up offense.”
While West was again plagued with early turnovers, fumbling away three of its first four possessions, the East Panthers capitalized. With just under four minutes to go in the first quarter, East quarterback Dawson Simmons hit Hunter Brown over the middle with a short pass from the West 26, then brown scampered into the end zone.
West threatened in the second quarter. Austin Mullen intercepted a Simmons pass at the West 24 yard line. Coach Kyle Lane’s squad used the final 5:11 of the quarter to march down the field, taking 15 plays to reach the East’s 1-yard line. West had first and goal at the 8 and pounded the ball with its running game, but failed to reach the goal line in four tries.
“We ran a couple of power plays with our Dalton (Smallwood, West’s quarterback),” Lane said. “He is our best short yardage runner. In that situation we will sometimes run sweeps, but East had done a really good job of stopping those, so we felt the power running game was our best option. We were out of timeouts and we were having to rush. I don't think it was a momentum killer, but at game’s end, that extra score could have been a difference maker.”
At the break, East led 16-0. That’s the way the score remained until the final minute of the fourth. East punted from its end zone, giving West incredible field position at the 15. On third down Smallwood passed to Ryan Smith for West’s only score, 16-6.
“Our defensive tackles (Danny Stout and Darrius Copeland) and inside linebackers (Zane Gaither and Lonnie White) did a great job of reading their keys,” said East’s Reese. “The thing I was most happy with on defense was all 11 of them were getting to the football all night. That’s what kept West out on the goal line at the end of the half and also on their conversion attempt (at game’s end).”
Lane was pleased with his defensive effort after the two East scores in the first quarter.
“After we stopped fumbling, the defense was able to play with better field position,” he noted. “We recorded two interceptions and tackled well. The defense could have benefited from more offensive consistency. However, they rode the momentum waves of the game and continued to play football. My hat goes off to Coach Reese and the East Panthers. They played a great game and are well deserving of this victory. Obviously we really wanted to win, but life doesn't always give us what we want. At the end of the day our players are learning things about themselves through defeat and we are all growing as men.”
West closes out the season at Rucker-Stewart Tuesday, October 9. East finishes the same night at home against Knox-Doss.
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