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DAVIDSVILLE -- On the first offensive possession for both Portage and Conemaugh Township, each team ran the ball right at each other and successfully scored.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs cooled off rather quickly, while the Indians were just finding their groove.
Township ran all over Portage to the tune of 283 yards as the Mustangs were unable to keep up in a 40-14 Heritage Conference loss on the road on Friday night.
"It's a case on both sides (of the ball) where if you're trying to do your job too much, then you're not doing your job enough," Portage coach Marty Slanoc said. "So, maybe you're trying to do two jobs, and you let somebody through on offense or even defensively, we give up some gaps."
Sequence of the game: Leading 16-7, Conemaugh Township coughed up its lone turnover of the contest on a fumble that Portage's Dominic Berardinelli recovered. However, the CT defense forced a turnover on downs after an eight-play drive by the Mustangs that had them sitting on the CT 22. On first down, Indian quarterback Greyson Studer ran for a 40-yard gain and 15 more yards were added on after a personal foul was called on Portage. With the ball at the Portage 20 and following a run for no gain by Carson Caufield, Studer had wide open space up the middle for a 20-yard TD run.
Studer: "That (lost fumble) will bring people down. But I went back in the huddle and let everybody know that this isn't going to bring us down. We're going to go hard and we're scoring here. ... My line, everybody just opened up the hole, and I could have driven a truck through that hole.''
Player of the game: Studer managed the Township offense well as he ran the ball 18 times for 187 yards, while completing just two of his four pass attempts for 38 yards. The junior helped give CT the lead for good on a 31-yard pass to Bryce Conn with 35 seconds left in the first quarter. He added a TD strike to Reed Conn from 7 yards out nearly midway through the third to put his team up 30-7, then scored on a keeper from 4 yards out at 6:45 of the final quarter to make it 38-14.
Conemaugh Township coach Brandon Studer: "He's definitely become an on-field leader for us. Like I said last week, if he can get his legs going it will make it a little bit easier for everybody else."
Unsung hero: The Indians' Colton Shippey ran 18 times for 78 yards and one touchdown, which was a 1 yard burst up the middle to cap off the opening drive of the game.
Coach Studer: "We found some matchups and formations that we liked, and we were able to keep going back to them. I thought our guys did a really good job up front, and our lead backs were picking up their (Portage) ends and their linebackers. We definitely had some running lanes.''
Most vital statistic: Conemaugh Township got not just one safety in the contest, but managed to get two. The first came early in the second stanza when Portage punter Dylan Bednarski went to field a punt that went over his head and into the end zone. Bednarski was unable to keep his feet in bounds at the back. The second came with 1:58 remaining in the contest when Berardinelli was tackled for a 4-yard loss in the end zone to set the final score.
Notable: The Mustangs matched Conemaugh Township's opening drive by scoring on their own first chance as Berardinelli found his way across the goal line from 3 yards out. The sophomore recorded the Mustangs second TD when he got in from a yard away at 2:08 left in the third. ... CT racked 321 yards of offense while Portage had 169. ... There were 84 run plays in the contest and just 12 passes attempted. ... Gabriel Valentine recovered a fumble at the start of the fourth for the Indians.
Records: Portage (2-3); Conemaugh Township (4-1).
Slanoc: "We're just going to have to keep working to improve. I see some improvement, I love our fight and I love our team. We'll just continue to work on it.''
Next week: Portage entertains Penns Manor next Friday; Conemaugh Township hosts Marion Center the same night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Portage 7 0 7 0 -- 14
Conemaugh Twp. 14 9 7 10 -- 40
First Quarter
CT--Shippey 1 run (Sotosky kick), 8:21.
P--Berardinelli 3 run (Bednarski kick), 2:13.
CT--Conn 31 pass from Studer (Sotosky kick), 0:35.
Second Quarter
CT--Safety, ball went out of back of
end zone, 10:27.
CT--Studer 20 run (Sotosky kick), 3:00.
Third Quarter
CT--R. Conn 7 pass from Studer (Sotosky kick), 6:19.
P--Berardinelli 1 run (Bednarski kick), 2:08.
Fourth Quarter
CT--Studer 4 run (B. Conn pass from Sotosky), 6:45.
CT--Safety, Berardinelli tackled in end zone, 1:58.
TEAM STATISTICS P CT
First downs 8 18
Total yards 169 321
Rushes-yards 39-102 45-283
Yards passing 67 38
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 4-8-0 2-4-0
Punts-avg. 3-33.0 2-28.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-62 5-38
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Portage, Burkett 6-(-8), Simala 7-18, Walker 8-26, Berardinelli 14-54, Shaffer 4-12. Conemaugh Township, Studer 18-187, Shippey 18-73, B. Conn 4-24, Caufield 1-0, Huffman 1-2, TEAM 3-(-3).
PASSING--Portage, Burkett 4-8-0-67. Conemaugh Township, Studer 2-4-0-38.
RECEIVING--Portage, Simala 1-9, Slanoc 2-6, Sciko 1-52. Conemaugh Township, B. Conn 1-31, R. Conn 1-7.