PORTSMOUTH — Perhaps Portsmouth didn't get the Friday memo that moved up the Trojans' kickoff against visiting Greenup County by a full half-hour.
But once that traditional kickoff time of 7 p.m. hit, the Trojans turned the sands in the proverbial hour glass —and turned the tide for the final 44 minutes on the Musketeers.
That's because Portsmouth scored the final 24 points, and grounded Greenup County to 25 rushing yards —en route to a 24-9 runaway win in the annual Ohio River Shootout, taking place on Friday night inside spectacular Trojan Coliseum.
"It took us a while to wake up. I would love to look at the clock and see if it was at 7 p.m. when we finally woke up," said PHS head coach Bruce Kalb. "Here we are starting a half-hour early and it almost was like 'it's time to play football'. Because we don't give up, we are resilient, we are tough and we can face adversity. We will came out in the end with resolve. It's who we are. We made plays, and that's who we are. We find a way to keep playing and we find a way to get it done. This one (victory) is big because it's a (Ohio) River rivalry."
The Trojans, in two weeks after opening against Unioto and suffering a 42-0 shutout and blowout loss, have returned to triumph over two nearby rivals.
Portsmouth won at West in week 2, getting a late scoop and score defensive touchdown from senior Dontavion Parker to win 13-12.
On Friday night, the Trojans got a strip and score by fellow senior Leeland Scurlock on a Musketeer kickoff return —with Scurlock securing, at least the way things were progressing, Portsmouth's first victory in this three-year renewed series of old Ohio Kentucky Athletic Conference foes.
Portsmouth is now 2-1, while Greenup County fell to 1-2 —a second straight setback of at least two touchdowns to a nearby neighbor for the Musketeers.
The Musketeers fell to undefeated Russell (Ky.) 28-15, but appeared to bounce back for the first four minutes against the Trojans —taking a 9-0 lead on a Portsmouth punt snap out of the end zone for a safety two minutes and 11 seconds in, and Ashur Wireman rushing 36 yards for a touchdown to cap a four-play and 55-yard drive that followed the Trojans' free kick.
As it turned out for Greenup County though, and as Newfound Glory once sang, it was all downhill from here.
The gong off went off for the Trojans at that point, and Greenup never scored again.
Instead, Portsmouth pitched a shutout over the final 44 minutes, forced four first-half Musketeer punts including three three-and-out possessions, seized a 14-9 halftime lead, took advantage of two Greenup third-quarter turnovers and tallied 10 points in a matter of 11 seconds, and twice turned the Musketeers over on downs.
"We didn't move the ball on offense the entire game. We had that touchdown run on the fourth play, but after that, we hardly had a first down. It's hard to be a good football team when you're not moving the ball on offense at all," said Greenup County coach Travis Jones. "We weren't able to run the ball, we weren't able to throw the ball. That equates to having a really bad offense. I am proud as heck of the way our defense battled to the very last play. It could have been really easy to get blown out this game with the way our offense performed. Our kids don't have any quit and I'm really proud of the fight in them. We just have to fix those mistakes that we made offensively."
With the kickoff time set for 6:30 p.m., to beat impending inclement weather, the Trojans took a full four minutes to get going.
"We came out and we sputtered. There wasn't a lot of energy and I think in the back of their (Trojans) minds, it was like 'here we go again'. Then we have the punt snap snafu. At times tonight, I think we fed into that stereotype of some of the mental mistakes and discipline issues. But the Portsmouth I know is resilient and tough and fights to the bitter end," explained Kalb. "It's because we don't give up."
Once they established their recent running game identity with junior tailback Fernando Poxes and senior quarterback Marquez Locklear, they wore the Musketeers out up front —and defensively dominated in allowing only 161 total yards.
Portsmouth senior placekicker/punter Jacob Roth was a weapon as well, flipping field position all night long —with three punts over 45 yards and a 45-yard average for four.
Simply put, Portsmouth pretty much ran roughshod over Greenup in all three phases.
"When we got rolling, we executed," said Kalb. "Yes there's times on Friday nights it's like herding cats. It's maddening at times. But when that ball is kicked off or snapped, they are going out and executing. We saw the result of some really well-prepared young men that executed when they needed to."
Trailing 9-0, the Trojans flipped the switch despite the Musketeers stacking the box —and drove 65 yards in seven plays and exactly three minutes.
Poxes, who amassed 153 yards on 26 carries including 106 yards on 14 first-half totes, popped off runs of 27 and 21 yards for first downs —and got the Trojans on the board with his second scoring run of the season, which was six-yard score at the five-minute mark.
"We moved the ball despite them stacking the box and daring us to throw. We still have Locklear's legs, Poxes north-south running, and we mixed (Trevin) Brooks in on a few dives," said Kalb. "We're starting to see the picture of who we are offensively as an identity."
Roth made the first of his three extra-point kicks, and the Musketeers never advanced past their own 30-yard line until they trailed 24-9.
Greenup simply couldn't move the football, either because the Trojans totally shut down the running attack —or because the Musketeers continually found themselves behind the chains.
That was the result of nine penalties for 51 yards.
They were guilty of five accepted holding calls, four of which were in the first half alone.
Wireman rushed 11 times for 39 yards, but junior Jasper Davis was pressured all night —carrying officially nine times for minus-17 yards.
He did complete 8-of-24 passes for 136 yards, but threw two second-half interceptions —one in which Poxes just snatched the ball away from Collin Melvin as the pigskin never hit the ground, and the other by senior cornerback Kayleb Johnson.
The 21 carries for 25 rushing yards was perhaps the eyesore Musketeer statistic of the night.
"Outside our one long run (for touchdown), we weren't able to run the ball all night," said Jones. "I bet we averaged less than three yards a carry, maybe less than two yards a carry. That doesn't equate to winning a football game. They wore us out up front and our offensive line just didn't perform the way we expect them to perform. We start four sophomores on the offensive line, and those guys had done a really good job up until this game tonight."
Portsmouth's defense did have some say in how Greenup gained, or didn't gain, yards.
"We're a spill defense. We want them to go sideline-to-sideline because we have speed," raved Kalb. "We went out and played our positions well and played them with discipline. Once we got that momentum shift, defensively we stiffened when we needed to stiffen and we held them out when we needed to hold them out. We got after their quarterback and I was really proud of the defensive effort. I thought our rush defense was very stout."
The Trojans took full advantage, and took the 14-9 lead with Roth's extra point, with 2:17 left in the second stanza —on another four-play drive.
This one began at the Greenup 46-yard-line and only consumed a minute and 37 seconds, as Poxes posted a 30-yard run —before Locklear went for 13 and then called his own number from eight yards out.
Locklear chipped in 51 yards on 14 attempts for the Trojans, as he only threw four passes —and completed three.
Portsmouth then got some separation early in the third —as Poxes' play three plays in gave the Trojans the ball at the Musketeer 37.
They ran eight plays in three minutes and 45 seconds, including two of Locklear's completions on back-to-back throws to Camron Williams —eventually moving inside the 10-yard line, before Roth made a 29-yard field goal with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the period.
Roth then kicked the ball to Jacoby Holland, who made the reception at the 2-yard-line —and hit full speed about the 20.
It was at the 22 he ran into Scurlock, who stripped straight the football from Holland —and dashed the other way for a stunning trip to paydirt.
In only 11 seconds, the Trojan lead had ballooned to 24-9 —suddenly sensing that the Ohio River Shootout Trophy was staying in the Buckeye State.
"That's a 10-point special teams swing in 11 seconds. We take a lot of pride in executing on special teams. Our kickoff coverage team was awesome, we get a strip and we run it back," said Kalb. "What an electrifying moment that was."
Jones, however, didn't think so.
"We can't be fumbling the football like that against a good team and expect to win the game," said the coach. "We have to hold onto the ball."
When Greenup did drive the ball in the second half, including after Wireman's 49-yard kickoff return to the Trojan 46 with seven minutes left in the third, it eventually turned it over.
Parker sacked Davis for a 19-yard loss when Greenup got to the Portsmouth 21 after seven plays, then turned the trick again for a six-yard loss with 10 minutes left —ending a Musketeer drive that spanned a dozen plays and four minutes and 23 seconds and got as deep as the PHS 9.
Johnson then intercepted Davis with 7:11 left, and a final drive of seven plays ended with four consecutive incompletions from the Greenup 45.
The Musketeers return home next Friday night, and play host to 1-1 East Carter.
Meanwhile, the Trojans try to extend their winning streak to three —as they open Ohio Valley Conference competition at 1-2 Gallia Academy.
"There's so much irregularity about that first week on the road at Gallia Academy when we face that every two years. Long bus trip. Grass field (Memorial Field in Gallipolis). Conference rival opener and just a tough Division IV team," said Kalb. "It's a going to be a great test for our kids. But when you get a win like tonight, I think the kids will be a little more hungry to prepare, to perfect and to get better."
* * *
Greenup Co. 9 0 0 0 —9
Portsmouth 7 7 10 0— 24
G — Safety, punt snap out of end zone, 9:49, 1st (2-0 G)
G — Ashur Wireman, 36-yard run (Carter Nunley kick), 8:01, 1st (9-0 G)
P — Fernando Poxes, 6-yard run (Jacob Roth kick), 5:01, 1st (9-7 G)
P — Marquez Locklear, 8-yard run (Jacob Roth kick), 2:17, 2nd (14-9 P)
P — Jacob Roth, 29-yard field goal, 7:28, 3rd (17-9 P)
P — Leeland Scurlock, 22-yard fumble recovery return (Jacob Roth kick), 7:17, 3rd (24-9 P)
Team Statistics
G P
First Downs 10 11
Scrimmage plays 45 51
Rushes-yards 21-25 47-202
Passing yards 136 17
Total yards 161 219
Cmp-Att-Int. 8-24-2 3-4-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-yards 9-51 12-110
Punts-Ave. 4-28.25 4-45
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Greenup County: Ashur Wireman 11-39 TD, Jasper Davis 9-(-17), Noah Clarkson 1-3; Portsmouth: Fernando Poxes 26-153 TD, Marquez Locklear 14-51 TD, Trevin Brooks 4-9, Team 3-(-11)
PASSING — Greenup County: Jasper Davis 8-24-2-136; Portsmouth: Marquez Locklear 3-4-0-17
RECEIVING—Greenup County: Kasey Gammon 3-58, Tyler Johnson 3-36, Landry Lewis 1-26, Ashur Wireman 1-16; Portsmouth: Camron Williams 2-11, Fernando Poxes 1-6
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