JOHNSTOWN — Portage came out on top in a back-and-forth Heritage Conference battle at Conemaugh Valley on Friday night as the Mustangs survived a second-half surge by the Blue Jays by putting together a go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter and getting a subsequent red-zone defensive stop in the final minute to earn a 28-20 victory.

The Mustangs were in command early, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on touchdown runs by Dominic Berardinelli and Easton Slanoc.

After a scoring pass from Xzavier Tatum to Eric Korhut pulled the Blue Jays within six, Slanoc threw deep and found Gavin Bobolsky, who eluded a defender en route to a 59-yard touchdown with just 1:36 left in the half to make it 20-8 at the break.

Conemaugh Valley stormed back to eventually tie the game with just under six minutes left, with Tatum connecting on scoring passes of 46 yards to Ayden Healey and 76 yards to Korhut.

Portage was then aided by consecutive Conemaugh Valley personal foul penalties on the ensuing series to move the ball into Blue Jay territory and put the Mustangs in position for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Portage’s defense then kept the Blue Jays out of the end zone after a Conemaugh Valley first down at the Mustang 15 with just over a minute to go.

Play of the game: With the game tied at 20, Portage faced a fourth-and-9 at the Blue Jay 13 with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. Slanoc then rolled out and drilled a touchdown pass to Teagan Kick, and followed that with a conversion toss to Tyson Burkett

Player of the game: Slanoc accounted for three of Portage’s four touchdowns, completing 4 of 7 passes for 78 yards and two scores while running for another. He also connected on a pair of two-point conversion throws.

Unsung hero: Portage freshman Tyson Burkett garnered praise from his head coach, Marty Slanoc.

“It was just his third varsity game, but he came in and played multiple positions on defense, had to take a couple of snaps at quarterback, and caught a two-point conversion pass. He was really steady and I’m very proud of him.”

Most vital statistic: Portage rolled up over 300 yards on the ground, with two rushers gaining over 100 yards.

Coach Slanoc: “Give our kids credit for battling and their kids credit for battling. I’m just happy to get the win. We made some mistakes and gave up some big plays, but we will continue to work and improve.”

Conemaugh Valley coach Joel Holsopple: “I’m so freaking proud of our kids, they fought for 48 minutes against a very good, very well-coached team.”

Easton Slanoc: “The game didn’t go the way we expected. We had some adversity and had to battle back.”

Records: Portage (2-1), Conemaugh Valley (0-3).

Next week: Portage hosts River Valley. Conemaugh Valley is at Northern Cambria.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Portage 6 14 0 8 — 28

Conemaugh Valley 0 8 6 6 — 20

First Quarter

P–Berardinelli 9 run (kick failed), 5:09.

Second Quarter

P–Slanoc 1 run (Gathers run), 11:13.

CV–Korhut 25 pass from Tatum (Stiffler pass from Tatum), 6:58.

P–Bobolsky 59 pass from Slanoc (kick failed), 1:36.

Third Quarter

CV–Healey 46 pass from Tatum (pass failed), 1:19.

Fourth Quarter

CV–Korhut 76 pass from Tatum (pass failed), 5:58.

P–Kick 13 pass from Slanoc (Burkett pass from Slanoc), 3:07.

TEAM STATISTICS P CV

First downs 18 9

Total Net Yards 382 267

Rushes-yards 45-304 24-50

Passing 78 217

Comp-Att-Int 4-7-0 13-21-0

Punts 0-0.0 3-25.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-Yards 4-35 6-67

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Portage, Slanoc 12-22, Gathers 13-123, Munyon 7-37, Berardinelli 5-22, Walker 8-100. Conemaugh Valley, Korhut 6-24, Tatum 13-22, Healey 4-4, Hern 1-0.

PASSING–Portage, Slanoc 4-7-0-78. Conemaugh Valley, Tatum 13-21-0-217.

RECEIVING–Portage, Bobolsky 1-59, Munyon 1-8, Kick 1-13, Sciko 1-minus 2. Conemaugh Valley, Korhut 4-109, Healey 6-54, Blair 1-7, Gelet 1-18, Stiffler 1-45.