Portsmouth West runs over Oak Hill, sets up title match with Wheelersburg
By: Andrew Woods
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OAK HILL, Ohio (WOUB)- In a game crucial to their SOC-II title hopes, the Portsmouth West Senators (7-2) ran all over the Oak Hill Oaks (1-8), racking up 498 rushing yards on their way to a 57-13 victory.
Oak Hill came out firing on homecoming night. On the first play of the game, Oaks quarterback Eddie Abele launched a 48-yard pass to Andy Meldick. Meldick caught five passes for 108 yards. This pass gave Oak Hill momentum. Abele capitalized on it with a 9-yard rush for a touchdown.
Portsmouth West would return serve immediately. After a kickoff out of bounds, the Senators started in Oak Hill territory. They took advantage of this with a 4-yard Bo Wroten rushing score.
After an Oaks punt, Anthony Bishop put on a show for Portsmouth West. Bishop took a carry for 58 yards. This rush marked Bishop’s 1000th rushing yard this season. He then found paydirt with a 4-yard rush. Bishop ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on ten carries.
Oak Hill would not back down. Thanks to multiple Senator penalties, the Oaks were set up in the red zone. Abele would find Ethan O’Connor in the end zone to make the score 14-13 Portsmouth West. However, Oak Hill missed the extra point.
In the second quarter, Portsmouth West took control of the game. The Senators blocked an Oak Hill punt. Then, Mason Parker rumbled down the field for a 47-yard touchdown.
The Portsmouth West run continued when the Senators recovered a fumble and Brody Hall punched a 7-yard rushing score, his first of the season. Portsmouth West and Oak Hill traded turnovers. As the second quarter wound down, Parker led the Senators down the field and to the end zone, scoring a 12-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 37-13 at halftime.
Portsmouth West came out firing after halftime, quickly driving and setting up Bo Wroten’s second touchdown of the game, this time from ten yards out. On their next drive, Parker scored his third touchdown, a 9-yard rush. In total, Parker ran for 227 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
The rest of the third quarter and the fourth were played with a running clock. However, the Senators would find the end zone one last time, when Zane Pitts scored his first touchdown of the year on a 5-yard carry.
On the ensuing kickoff, Portsmouth West recovered a fumble, their fifth of the game, to secure the win.
Next week, Portsmouth West faces the Wheelersburg Pirates (5-4) in a game that will decide the SOC-II champion.
Oak Hill plays their final regular season game next week against Northwest (5-4).