Portageville Bulldogs end season in district playoffs

PORTAGEVILLE -- The scenario surrounding both Portageville and Hayti Friday was who could limp to the finish line first.

A depleted, fourth-seeded Portageville roster fell to another injury-riddled No. 5 Hayti 38-0 during the first round of the Class 2, District 1 tournament at Portageville High School ending Portageville's season.

The Bulldogs (5-5) were without it's star linebacker, Derrick Priggel, and it's starting quarterback, Jon Garrett Kellams, in a playoff atmosphere that required all hands on deck.

Hayti, who is down to 19 players on its roster due to three injuries and dismissing four other players earlier in the week, took advantage of Portageville's absences.

Portageville quarterback Ian Torrey looks to throw against Hayti Friday at Portageville High School. (Chris Pobst, Standard Democrat)

They ran for 285 yards and fill-in quarterback Austin Neisler threw for another 63 helping the Indians build a 30-point halftime lead that Portageville couldn't crawl out of.

"We definitely, tremendously missed those two kids," said Bullock. "You're losing leaders and they're our leaders. I had about four others out there that didn't have any business out there either. But they gave me all they got."

Neisler led Hayti with 71 yards rushing which included a rushing and throwing touchdown each. Cedric Fields ran in two scores on top of his 36 yards and Jamal Brooks added 59 yards and one touchdown.

"With Priggel out, we attacked the holes," Hayti head coach Neal Cruce. "We thought if we could get our interior running game going early, it could be big."

Portageville was held to 182 yards total. Their leading rusher was Daniel McCray with 49 yards. Landon Delisle added 16.

Backup quarterback Ian Torrey finished 8 of 22 passing for 111 yards. The freshman, who is Portageville's leading receiver, faced pressure throughout the night ending with -11 rushing yards on five carries. Torrey shown the brightest on defense when he picked Neisler's fourth pass attempt during Hayti's first drive.

"I thought Ian played well," Bullock said. "He got beat up but still made some throws. He showed, at times, that he's a special kid."

The Indians (4-5) quickly recovered after forcing a punt to end Portageville's first drive. A 44-yard run by Brooks gave way to a 10-yard rush by Fields giving Hayti with the end zone sitting just six yards away. Fields drove in for the touchdown on the next play and Brooks ran in the two-point conversion giving the Indians an 8-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

"We try to base everything off our interior running game," said Cruce. "Once we get that working everything else kind of falls into place."

Things started to unravel for Portageville in the second quarter after two fumbles led to two Hayti touchdowns.

Portageville's first drive of the second quarter ended before it began when Landon Delisle fumbled on the first play. Hayti's Devan Riddick recovered the fumble.

The Indians drove 80 yards on nine plays which ended with Neisler keeping an option run for 26 yards for the touchdown.

Portageville fumbled on its second consecutive snap, this time from McCray, which led to Hayti's second touchdown in one minute, 45 seconds.

Riddick caught a 31-yard, over-the-shoulder pass from Neisler for the score to take a 24-0 lead after the 2-point conversion.

"Forcing a couple turnovers is big, but with our kids if we get some early confidence we can be dangerous," Cruce said. "Early failure, we can lay down. The 19 that I have left can be pretty dangerous whenever they get some confidence."

Portageville's most promising drive ended after it's 11th play after turning the ball over on downs.

Hayti wasted little time adding to their advantage when Brooks capped a three-play drive with an 8-yard run with 6:29 left in the first half giving the Indians a comfy 30-0 lead.

"We were a little stunned in the first half," said Bullock. "They were making plays and we weren't doing our jobs. We didn't do a lot of things to make plays for ourselves. We put ourselves in bad spots and Hayti jumped on it and took off. That's what you're supposed to do. They knew we were gimped up and they attacked us at those spots."

Fields scored his second touchdown of the night late in the third quarter after a 12-yard run.

Malden, who broke a string of four consecutive losses to Portageville, will take on the district's top seed, Malden, next Friday on the road.

Malden, who defeated Charleston 73-8, is considered the undisputed favorite to win the district as well as go deep into the Class 2 playoffs.

"Malden is winning football games based on their weight room success in June, July, August," Cruce said. "They're big, strong, fast and disciplined. It's hard to find a team that has power and finesse. They've got both.

"If we're going to be successful we have to play the perfect ballgame. We can't make mistakes, silly penalties and anything we have up our sleeves is going to have to work and it's going to have to work the first time."

Portageville says goodbye to nine seniors, including Priggel and Delisle.

"I'm so appreciative of what they've given me," Bullock said about his seniors. "They're all first class kids and I'm so proud of what they've done this year."

Hayti 8 22 8 0 -- 38

Portageville 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First Quarter

H -- Cedric Fields 6 run (Jamal Brooks run), 5:25

Second Quarter

H -- Austin Neisler 26 run (Cody Jamerial run), 8:49

H -- Neisler 31 pass to Devan Riddick (Fields run), 7:04

H -- Brooks 8 run (pass failed), 6:29

Third Quarter

H -- Fields 12 run (Fields run), 1:04

TEAM STATISTICS

H P

First downs 10 8

Total yards 348 182

Rushes-yards 38-285 30-71

Passing yards 63 111

Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-8-1 8-22-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 7-4

Penalties-yards 10-70 6-83

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Hayti, Elijah Jones 5-37, Jamal Brooks 10-59, Cedric Fields 7-36, Austin Neisler 6-71, Jamerial Cody 4-25, Dayon Moore 1-21, Devante Robinson 1-20. Portageville, Daniel McCray 14-48, Will Crysler 6-10, Ian Torrey 5-(-11), Landon Delisle 3-16, Tyler Haynes 2-7.

Passing -- Hayti, Austin Neisler 4-8-1 63. Portageville, Ian Torrey 8-22-0 111.

Receiving -- Hayti, Dayon Moore 1-3, Devan Riddick 3-60. Portageville, Kobe Chillers 2-59, Will Crysler 2-16, Ryan Priggel 1-4, Daniel McCray 3-32.