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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
PORTAGE -- Portage celebrated homecoming on Friday night against United Valley, and things began much the same for both teams as neither team had much cause for celebration.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the Lions played spoiler to the festivities as they got on track late in the opening quarter.
Portage was unable to stop the methodical run game of the Lions, while its offense couldn't capitalize on three forced turnovers in a 28-0 loss at Portage Stadium.
"Nothing's working. We're a block away, or a mistake here or a mistake there -- it's so close," Portage coach Marty Slanoc said. "Then that plays into your psyche. The kids start pressing or they are feeling their way through instead of playing loose and playing aggressive. Credit them (United Valley) -- they got off the ball, they had a plan and they beat us to the punch."
Play of the game: With just over a minute left in the first quarter, Portage quarterback Owen Gouse rolled to his right and threw on the run but had the ball tipped by United Valley lineman Braxton Jelley. The deflected pass was picked out of the air by UV's Dylan Stephens at the UV 20 before taking off down the left sideline. Stephens began to run out of gas and was pulled down by a Mustang just 4 yards from the end zone after a 74-yard return. Two plays later, Collin Nedrich powered across the goal line from 2 yards out before adding the PAT to give the Lions a 7-0 edge with just 11 ticks to go in the quarter.
United Valley coach Lou McElwee: "Momentum is huge, especially in the game of football. That interception, it definitely sparked us -- it got us rolling. We've won three games in a row, but we've started every game flat. Stuff like that is what helps us start rolling as an offense. Once that happened, the boys started believing that they could do some special things."
Player of the game: Nedrich ran the ball 11 times for 66 yards and two scores. In addition to the 2-yard run, the senior gave his team a two-score advantage at 11:14 of the second stanza when he hit paydirt on a 21-yard scamper. Nedrich also went 4-for-4 on extra points and was a disruptive force on defense with double digit tackles and batting away a few pass attempts.
Unsung hero: In addition to the 74-yard interception return, Stephens attempted 16 rushes for 88 yards, including a 12-yarder at 6:04 of the third that capped off a 14-play, 68-yard drive to open the second half and set the final score. The senior, who punted once for 33 yards, also executed a fake in the fourth on a fourth-and-10 from his own 39 and promptly rumbled 28 yards to the Portage 33.
Slanoc: "They (United Valley) are doing their job (running the ball), and we were trying to do a bit much -- you have to stay patient. If they get a first down or two, it's not the end of the world -- we can't start trying to do somebody else's job. Then we get out of place and they hit a bigger play."
Most vital statistic: The Mustangs recovered three Lion fumbles but were unable to turn them into points as the first led to the interception, the second to a punt and the third to the end of the game.
McElwee: "We want to control the clock as much as possible. If we can get 3, 4, 5, 6 yards a clip, I'll take that all day. ... We came in and the grass is a little bit higher than I like to see it, so we knew that we were going to run heavy today. It turned out in our favor, the boys ran hard and the line blocked like they've never blocked before.''
Notable: United Valley quarterback Dmitri Worthington, who ran nine times for 48 yards, made the score 21-0 on a 25-yard keeper with 1:35 remaining in the third. ... Portage gained nearly identical yardage in each half as it grounded out 44 in the first and 46 in the second for 90 total yards of offense. Meanwhile, the defense surrendered 259 total for the contest. ... UV's Rylan Garver had 68 return yards on the five Portage punts.
Records: United Valley (4-3); Portage (2-5).
Next week: United Valley hosts Penns Manor next Friday night; Portage travels to Purchase Line the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
United Valley 7 14 7 0 -- 28
Portage 0 0 0 0 -- 0
First Quarter
UV--Nedrich 2 run (Nedrich kick), 11.0
Second Quarter
UV--Nedrich 21 run (Nedrich kick), 11:14.
UV--Worthington 25 run (Nedrich kick), 1:35.
Third Quarter
UV--Stephens 12 run (Nedrich kick), 6:04.
TEAM STATISTICS UV P
First downs 11 5
Total yards 259 90
Rushes-yards 47-241 37-90
Yards passing 18 0
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 2-5-0 0-7-1
Punts-avg. 1-33.0 5-29.6
Fumbles-lost 4-3 4-2
Penalties-yards 7-80 3-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--United Valley, Nedrich 11-66, Stephens 16-88, Worthington 9-48, Szymusiak 9-29, R. Garver 1-8, Altimus 1-2. Portage, Gouse 12-33, I. Willinsky 18-38, Gathers 2-5, N. Willinsky 1-2, Roberts 3-14, TEAM 1-(-1).
PASSING--United Valley, Worthington 2-5-0-18. Portage, Gouse 0-7-1-0.
RECEIVING--United Valley, Luko 2-18. Portage, none.