Sports
Versailles stomps Portsmouth West, moves on to the second round of playoffs
By: Nick Sinclair
Posted on:
WEST PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WOUB) – The Versailles Tigers travel south to take on the Portsmouth West Senators in the first round of the Division VI, Region 24, OHSAA playoffs. Despite the travel, Versailles took hold of the matchup and won 38-7.
Portsmouth West started the game with the ball and faced an early fourth down in the Tigers’ territory. Versailles would force a turnover on downs, and they would start their first drive on their 19. Their offense would quickly move down the field. The drive would be capped off with quarterback Blake Monnin rushing in for an eight-yard score.
Versailles would not stop their momentum there. After forcing a punt from the Senators, the Tigers would get the ball back early in the second quarter. A few minutes in, Landyn Knapke would break through the Portsmouth West defense for a 38-yard rushing touchdown to go up 14-0.
Versailles’ defense would stay dominant on the Portsmouth West offense and force another punt. The Tigers put a few plays together to go on the Senators’ side of the field. From there, Monnin would find Kade Schwartz one-on-one downfield and connect for a 38-yard touchdown. The half ended with Versailles kicking a 33-yard field goal from Schwartz to go up 24-0.
Versailles would start the third quarter with the ball. The Tigers took their time going downfield, killing a little more than five minutes off the clock. The drive would be capped off with Nicholas Meyer rushing into the end zone from nine yards out. Portsmouth West would get the kickoff and start with the ball on their 30-yard line. Braden Adkens would find a gap and run 70 yards for the Senators to go on the board, 31-7.
Versailles would answer right back, though. The Tigers would drain a little more than 3 minutes from the clock on their ensuing drive. Versailles would get all the way to Portsmouth West’s three-yard line, where Ian Hemmelgarn would sneak into the endzone. The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle with neither school reaching the endzone.
With Versailles victory over the Senators, they move on to the next round of the playoffs in Division VI, Region 24. The second round will see them play the four-seed Cincinnati College Preparatory Lions, who finished the season 7-2.