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By Kevin Petrochko
For the Mirror
PORTAGE -- After a shutout loss to Marion Center last week, the Portage Mustangs bounced back strong with a 47-8 win over the Conemaugh Valley Blue Jays on Friday night at Portage Community Stadium.
The win is the Mustang's first of the season.
Senior tight end Bode Layo had eight rushes for 26 yards while scoring two touchdowns for Portage.
"I feel pretty good," Layo said. "We just made a lot of progress from last week, and that's what really feels the best."
After last week's loss, the Mustangs made it a point to focus on the little things in practice.
"After last week's performance, we really took a look at the film, and were disappointed in a lot of things," Mustangs coach Marty Slanoc said. "We really spent a lot of time trying to get that going."
With 1:16 left in the third quarter, senior running back Owen Gouse scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 24-0 lead.
The victory gives the Mustangs a confidence booster heading into next week against River Valley.
"It helps a ton," Gouse said. "We were really struggling with it this week. We practiced hard, worked and this gave us a lot more to come back."
Conemaugh Valley senior running Evan McNulty had an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Blue Jays on the board. The two-point conversion snap was picked up by tight end Ayden Healey, who threw a pass to Eric Korhutt for the conversion.
"We were in the game," CV coach Matthew Kent said. "Our quarterback went down. Our backup quarterback was already down from last week, so we had to put a kid in there who never really took snaps before. It kind of snowballed from there."
Play of the game: Portage running back Noah Willinsky scored on a 76-yard touchdown run to seal the game for the Mustangs.
Player of the game: Layo whose two touchdown runs in the first half gave Portage a positive feeling at halftime.
Unsung hero: Portage running back Austen Roberts, who contributed a 72-yard touchdown run.
Most vital statistic: Portage finished the game with 561 total yards of offense.
Slanoc: "Our experience coming back are five guys that are three-year starters. They have to be able to get going a little bit, and we need our guys up front to get them there.
Kent: "We just have to try to work together and find out what we're going to do about our quarterback situation. Just keep trying to drive on."
Layo: "It's so nice having people who can do something with the ball at all points of the field.''
Notable: The Mustangs finished with 342 total rushing yards on the night. … CV finished with 186 yards rushing but could only muster 63 in the passing game.
Records: Portage (1-1), Conemaugh Valley (0-2)
Next week: Portage travels to River Valley while Conemaugh Valley hosts Northern Cambria
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Conemaugh Valley………………………… 0 0 0 8 — 8
Portage…………………………………………..6 8 20 13 — 47
First Quarter
P--Layo 64 run (Kick failed), 1:54.
Second quarter
P--Layo 4 run (Conversion good),0:37
Third Quarter
P--Slanoc 28 pass to Smithtro (Kick failed), 10:01.
P--I. Willinsky 24 run (Conversion good), 3:44.
P - Gouse 27 run (Conversion failed) 1:16
Fourth Quarter
P - Roberts 72 run (Slanoc kick) 7:21
C--McNulty 80 run (Korhut pass from Healey), 5:16.
P - N. Willlinsky 76 run (Kick failed) 4:34
TEAM STATISTICS CV P
First downs 5 9
Total yards 249 561
Rushes-yards 38-186 31-342
Yards passing 63 219
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-7-1 7-11-0
Punts-avg. 4-38 4-34.5
Fumbles-lost 0 1
Penalties-yards 5-40 5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Conemaugh Valley, McNulty 13-102, Heinlein 8 (-17), Stiffler 1-2, Blair 2-3, Healey 2-36, Hill 1-15. Portage, I. Wilinsky 7-50, Slanoc 4-22, Layo 8-26, Smithtro 5-40, Gouse 5-40, Roberts 2-80, N. Willinksky 1-76.
PASSING--Conemaugh Valley, Heinlein 2-6-60-1 Healey 1-1-3-0 . Portage, Slanoc 7-11-99-0.
RECEIVING--Conemaugh Valley, Korhut 2-60. Portage, Gouse 1-10, Layo 3-110.