November 1, 2013
Portageville runs over St. Vincent
sports@standard-democrat.com PORTAGEVILLE -- The post-game speech by Portageville head coach Jeff Bullock wasn't a cozy heart-to-heart. Although his team shut out St. Vincent during the Class 1, District 1 quarterfinals 28-0 and one of his running backs ran for over 300 yards, he felt it wasn't enough...
By Chris Pobst -- Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
PORTAGEVILLE -- The post-game speech by Portageville head coach Jeff Bullock wasn't a cozy heart-to-heart.
Although his team shut out St. Vincent during the Class 1, District 1 quarterfinals 28-0 and one of his running backs ran for over 300 yards, he felt it wasn't enough.
That's the kind of pressure coaches and players alike put on themselves when a potential meeting against the Valle Catholic Warriors is rapidly approaching.
"(Coach Bullock) knows and I know we weren't playing good," Portageville senior Ben Story said after the game. "It was a win but it wasn't pretty. It wasn't pretty at all. It's definitely not good enough to beat Valle."
If seeds hold true, Portageville (6-3) will run into the Warriors -- which have won two of the last three Class 1 state championships -- Wednesday during the district semifinals. Top-seeded Valle will play Cabool, the eighth seed, tonight.
"The kids from St. Vincent played harder than we did," Bullock said. "When you can't run but to one side of the field and the next team you're going to play is Valle, you can't be content and happy with that in the 10th week of the season. There was a lack of effort and that's not acceptable."
The Bulldogs have won their last five games but started the season 1-3. During their slow start, one of the key things that led to it was the play of their offensive line. Once thought of as a strength for his team, Bullock saw his front-five revert to bad habits.
"When you can't run and get a positive yard to one side of the field, that's just terrible football," said Bullock.
Runs by Story, who had 177 rushing yards at halftime, and catches by senior wide receiver Bryce Wallace were the only bright spots Bullock saw.
"I will say (Story) ran the ball hard and Bryce (Wallace) caught some passes for us but we just can't have one or two things work for us next week," Bullock said, whose in his second year as Portageville's head coach. "Valle will look at our game tape and figure out real quick what we're doing and pick us apart if we only have one or two guys doing things for us."
Story ran for 326 yards -- two more than Potageville's rushing total as a team. He opened the Bulldogs' scoring on just their second play from scrimmage when the senior took a sweep to the left in the end zone from 77 yards away for a 6-0 lead after a failed 2-point conversion try.
Later in the second quarter, Story broke free for a 48-yard scamper. The 2-point conversion from quarterback Jon Garrett Kellams to Wallace gave Portageville a 14-0 lead going into the half.
"When we have as much trouble as we did we can't turn around and say, 'hey Ben, bail us out'," Bullock said. "We were very one dimensional tonight and that won't work against a team like Valle."
Halftime brought about a 38-minute weather delay after heavy rain, high winds and a few bolts of lightning caused the hold up.
A scoreless third quarter led to a 52-yard interception return by Story with 8:09 remaining in the final period.
After a promising St. Vincent drive stalled at Portageville's 6-yard line, Story gashed the Indians' defense for a 70-yard run. The next play was a 24-yard touchdown pass from Kellams to Wallace to seal Portageville's win with 5:49 left.
St. Vincent (5-5) turned the ball over on downs six times and ended their other three drives with interceptions. Story, Wallace and AV Banks all had interceptions for Portageville.
St. Vincent running back Alex Winkler ran 21 times for 74 yards to lead the Indians on the ground. Quarterback Nathan Carroll threw for 154 yards.
Although the decision is yet to be made whether Portageville will go on the road to play Valle, the Bulldogs are confident that's the team that will be waiting for them Wednesday.
"Valle's Valle," Story said. "Everybody knows who Valle is. Everybody knows they can't be beat. We have to play perfect."
St. Vincent 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Portageville 6 8 0 14 -- 28
First quarter
P -- Ben Story 77 run (run failed), 4:00
Second quarter
P -- Story 48 run (Jon Garrett Kellams to Bryce Wallace), 3:34
Fourth quarter
P -- Story 45 interception return (Kellams to Wallace), 8:09
P -- Kellams 24 pass to Wallace (run failed), 5:49
Rushing -- St. Vincent, Alex Winkler 21-74, Cole Sauer 4-7, Levi Gotta 1-12, Joseph Whistler 1-(-11), Zac Herberlie 1-(-8), Nathan Carroll 5-(-4). Portageville, Ben Story 23-326, Daniel McCray 4-(-2), AV Banks 3-(-2), Landon DeLisle 3-3, Jon Garrett Kellams 1-(-1).
Passing -- St. Vincent, Nathan Carroll 13-28-3 154. Portageville, Jon Garrett Kellams 2-4-0 31.
Receiving -- Portageville, Bryce Wallace 2-31.
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