Coal Grove’s perfect season comes to a close against Portsmouth
By: Morgan Anderson, Morgan Ellis
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COAL GROVE, Ohio (WOUB) — The Portsmouth Trojans traveled to Dawson-Bryant High School for an in-conference matchup against the Coal Grove Hornets this past Friday.
For the Hornets, senior running back, Chase Hall leads the Southeast Ohio area with 1,494 rushing yards after tonight’s game.
Hall was the first to score in the matchup when he ran to the endzone for a touchdown in the first quarter. Steven Simpson and the Hornets then succeed in a two-point conversion to have an 8-0 lead against the Trojans.
Portsmouth fought back when Tyler Duncan threw a pass to his brother Jayden Duncan for a Trojan touchdown with under five minutes left in the first quarter. With a good kick, the Trojans decreased the Hornets lead to 8-7.
Trojan senior, Beau Hammond intercepted Whyatt Mannon’s pass to put them on the Hornet’s nine-yard line. Portsmouth is then struck with a targeting call that they lose yards on, but that did not stop Reade Pendleton from scoring a touchdown late in the first quarter to increase the Trojan’s lead 14-8 going into the next quarter of play.
The interceptions kept coming in the second quarter for the Trojans when Leo Poxes steals the ball for a first down and 10 at the 38-yard line. Hammond rushes into the endzone for another Trojan touchdown to further their lead 21-8.
Off of the Trojan’s return, Hall scores a touchdown and drives for the two-point conversion to battle back against the Trojans, minimizing the lead 21-16.
Another Duncan-to-Duncan action happened when Jayden catches his brother’s pass in the endzone. With a good kick, the Trojans upped their lead 28-16 with five minutes left in the half.
Jayden Duncan continued to have himself a night when Coal Grove attempted to go for the run but he intercepted the pass with just about a minute left on the clock in the first half.
At the end of the first half, the Trojans led the Hornets 28-16.
In the second half of the action, the battle continued. The Hornets scored two touchdowns in the third quarter. Although they did not succeed in their two, two-point conversion attempts, they still managed to steal the lead away from the Trojans 30-28 going into the final quarter.
Portsmouth clashed back in the fourth quarter when they scored a touchdown to take back the lead. The Hornets continued the fight and tied the ballgame with just minutes left to play. The Trojans did not let that stop them from scoring a touchdown and taking the lead. Coal Grove had one final run and scored a touchdown, but with a missed field goal, the Trojans win the game with a final score of 43-42.
With the win, the Trojans improve their record to 3-3 (1-1 in conference). Next week they travel to Chesapeake to face off against the Chesapeake Panthers.
As for the Hornets, this loss caused them to lose their undefeated title. Their record fell to 5-1 (2-1 in conference). Next week, the Gallia Academy Blue Devils travel to Coal Grove for their next matchup.