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Scott City Ram hand Portageville their first loss of the season
PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. - Scott City traveled south to challenge the undefeated Portageville Bulldogs in a SEMO Conference South and MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 match up.
Number five SEMO South ranked Scott City upset the number three ranked Bulldogs in a 28-24 victory.
The Portageville Bulldogs entered into this competition looking for their fourth win of the season while Scott City wanted to improve on their 2-1 record after losing to Hayti in week three.
Both defenses started out strong in the first quarter, with neither team scoring until the final seconds.
A 20 yard rushing touchdown by senior Huston Partin gave the Bulldogs the opening statement of the night. It was scored with less than 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
Scott City was able to stop the extra point conversion to keep it a 6-0 game. In fact, Scott City stopped every extra point conversion in the first half.
Despite their deficit, the Rams quickly responded. Senior receiver Lane Holder caught a touchdown pass from Jackson Gloth in the opening minutes of the second quarter. A scored field goal gave Scott City a 7-6 lead over Portageville.
The Bulldogs did not stay down for long. A two play drive by Portageville put them back in the endzone to take the game back. Senior running back Jayquan Bogan scored this touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 12-7 lead.
Bogan had one of the top rushing games in the SEMO Conference last week against Confluence Prep Academy. He ran 141 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. He matched his touchdowns from last week in the first half of play.
Later in the second quarter, Sophomore Evan Winsor made a 74 yard catch and run to put the Bulldogs on the one-yard line. Bogan once again capitalized on this drive making it a 18-7 ball game before the half.
Scott City tried to respond and made a good drive, including a 40 yard pass on 4th and 20 by Gloth to sophomore Rylan Froggatt. However, Portageville’s defense stopped the run to prevent a Rams touchdown.
They entered the half time down, 18-7. According to Scott City’s head coach Brian Beaubien, he just wanted his players to come out with more energy in the second half.
“We had a lot of adversity in this game,” Beaubien said. “Everytime we landed a punch, they would hit us back. I just told them to hang in there and fight and keep plugging and it came down to who would make the last play.”
Scott City cut the lead to four after a touchdown by Junior Rusty Underwood, his first of the game.
Underwood entered this competition with the most rushing yards in the SEMO Conference. He ran 484 yards in the opening three weeks of the season. He also had five touchdowns in the first three weeks.
After their touchdown, Ram’s defense forced and picked up a fumble to give Scott City possession and a chance to retake the lead.
The Rams capitalize on this chance with another touchdown scored by Underwood at the six minute mark. The extra field goal gave them a 21-18 lead.
Immediately after this lead change, Junior Antonio Hickenbottom from Portageville scored an 85 yard punt return. This gave the Bulldogs a 24-21 lead, for the third lead change of this game.
This was Hickenbottom’s fourth touchdown of the season.
Another lead change was acquired in the final quarter by the Rams after a 30 yard touchdown pass to Scott City Sophomore Lane Miller. A scored field goal gave them a 28-24 lead over Portageville with under three minutes left.
With under 1:30 left, Scott City’s Jackson Burger made a game winning interception to stop Portageville’s dive and give them their first loss of the season.
According to Burger, as soon as he saw the ball in the air, he knew he had to get it.
“I went, jumped up, got the ball and got tackled,” Burger said. “I was feeling a lot of emotions, I can’t describe it. It means a lot getting this win, because last week we didn’t play very well. It feels good to come back after a big loss and get a big win.”
Scott City will be on the road again for Week five when they travel to Malden on Friday Sep. 27.
Portageville will travel to Charleston for their first away game of the season.