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Mustangs drop a thriller

BERLIN — Friday night’s WestPAC Conference matchup between unbeatens Portage and Berlin Brothersvalley did everything to live up to its pregame hype.

And so did junior quarterback-wideout Will Spochart, who rushed for two touchdowns and caught a pass for another — albeit amidst some controversy (see below note) — to lead Berlin Brothersvalley (4-0) to a 21-13 victory on a misty, windy night at the Snyder of Berlin Sports Complex.

Play of the game: Even though it was in a losing cause, none was more exciting or eventful than Portage senior Gabe Forst’s 89-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff of the second half that helped the Mustangs cut into what had been a 14-0 halftime deficit.

Player of the game: Spochart accounted for 70 yards rushing, 81 receiving, and 50 passing.

Unsung hero: Junior Abe Countryman, who doubles as a quarterback-tight end, made a deft shoe-top catch of Spochart’s 24-yard pass to extend Berlin’s 58-yard, nine-play game-clinching fourth-quarter touchdown drive.

Most vital statistic(s): Portage rushed for 16 first downs and rolled up 297 total yards, but had three costly first-half fumbles stall drives.

Berlin Brothersvalley coach Doug Paul: “It was a chess match — they made a move, we made a move. It It was another Berlin-Portage classic.”

Portage coach Gary Gouse: “Both teams played their guts out. We had so many opportunities to score in the first half, but couldn’t punch it in.”

Forst: “We were slow at the beginning, but in the second half, we came out and played hard.”

Controversial call: Spochart caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Countryman with 31 seconds left in the first half that television replays cast some doubt on. Spochart lost the ball in the end zone as he was hit by Forst defending on the play, but officials ruled that he had possession long enough for the score to count. “People who used to coach for us and who were watching it on TV told me that it wasn’t a catch,” Gouse said. “What are you going to do? There’s no replay (review) in high school (football).”

Notable: Forst rushed for 120 yards on 19 carries and senior Scott Berardinelli ran for 62 yards on 14 tries and a 5-yard TD run for Portage, which got an interception on defense from Connor Price.

Records: Portage is 3-1 overall and in the conference. Berlin Brothersvalley is 4-0 overall and in the conference.

Next Friday night: Portage hosts Shade, while Berlin Brothersvalley hosts Windber in conference games.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 0 0 13 0 — 13

Berlin Brothersvalley 0 14 0 7 — 21

Second Quarter

BB–Spochart 33 run (Glessner kick), 3:00.

BB–Spochart 19 pass from Countryman (Glessner kick), :31.

Third Quarter

P–Forst 89 kickoff return (Tubbs kick), 11:47.

P–Berardinelli 5 run (kick failed), 10:46.

Fourth Quarter

BB–Spochart 3 run (Glessner kick), 2;52.

TEAM STATISTICS P BB

First downs 20 16

Total yards 297 289

Rushes-yards 53-244 36-158

Yards passing 53 131

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 6-15-0 6-16-1

Punts-avg. 3-31 4-25.5

Fumbles-lost 6-3 6-0

Penalties-yards 3-20 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Portage, Forst 19-120, Berardinelli 14-62, Price 16-44, Georg 4-18. Berlin Brothersvalley, Blubaugh 18-83, Spochart 16-70, P. Foor 2-5.

PASSING–Portage, Price 6-15-0-53. Berlin Brothersvalley, Countryman 4-8-0-81, Spochart 2-8-0-50.

RECEIVING–Portage, Claar 3-37, Georg 2-12, Zatek 1-4. Berlin Brothersvalley, Spochart 4-81, Hillegass 1-26, Countryman 1-24.

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