September 23, 2016
Kelly football stays the course despite second 80-point loss to Portageville
PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- The final result was never in doubt. Both teams knew what they were getting into, especially Kelly, who saw more success their first year of varsity football three years ago than recently. The final buzzer sounded and the Hawks were on the wrong end of their second 80-point blowout in as many weeks after falling to Malden 85-0 just seven days prior...
PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- The final result was never in doubt. Both teams knew what they were getting into, especially Kelly, who saw more success their first year of varsity football three years ago than recently.
The final buzzer sounded and the Hawks were on the wrong end of their second 80-point blowout in as many weeks after falling to Malden 85-0 just seven days prior.
But despite losing 89-0 to Portageville on Thursday, Kelly continued to be positive.
Sophomore quarterback Christian Worley gave a passionate speech while standing in the middle of his team's huddle following the game. He pleaded to his team that they will get better. He quickly brought up mistakes that he made and encouraged his team to stay the course despite being outscored 297-0 in five losses this season.
"Losing by that much sucks. It's not fun," said Sophomore quarterback Christian Worley. "But its going to do one of two things to your team. It's either going to tear you apart or bring you closer to together."
That's the reality that Kelly is facing with its football program.
The youngest and most inexperienced team in the SEMO Conference has been the butt of jokes and targets of pity. But they deflect that noise that surrounds them.
"It would be easy for the boys to get caught up in the scoreboard and I would totally understand it," Kelly coach Lance Powers said. "But the boys we have are more than likely going to keep fighting and try to get better."
Powers also doesn't think opposing teams deliberately run up scores. He said Portageville is a very good football team with a record that doesn't really show how good they are and Malden is state-ranked for a reason.
"If you watch the games their second strings have been in by the second quarter. I don't think coach [Joel] Wyatt or coach [Jeff] Bullock the last two weeks have run the score up. It's still up to us to stop them. We have to make the plays and have to execute. Until then, we're going to have some problems like that," Powers said.
Those problems showed true during their first possession Friday night.
Portageville scored on all nine of their offensive possessions, which included two interception and punt returns for touchdowns in the first quarter.
Portageville junior Ian Torrey jumped Worley's first pass attempt and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown. Worley threw his second of six interceptions of the night that led to a 55-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Gates.
Portageville scored 49 points in the first quarter taking advantage of six Kelly turnovers. The Hawks began their second drive of the night at their own 47 but nothing came of it. The farthest they traveled inside Portageville territory was at the 44-yard line in the fourth quarter. That drive ended with a pick-six.
Kelly's offensive possessions went as followed: interception, interception, punt, punt, interception, interception, turnover on downs, fumble, punt, punt, punt, interception.
They were held to 11 total yards. Worley threw for 47 yards in the air but their running game was stuffed for -36.
"The big picture is we start a lot of sophomores and we start some freshman," Powers said. "We had two freshman on the line and at one point we had a freshman tailback. We're not blessed with a lot of upperclassman."
"We're a young team, but you can't use that as an excuse," Worley said. "We have the talent, the talent is there, we just have to come to work and get better. That's all that it really is."
Injuries have also littered their already short roster, in terms of a Class 2 school. They started the year with 42 players and entered Thursday with nine of those not dressed out, including Shane Goering, who was considered one of the leaders of the team and one of just three seniors on the roster. A few others went down Friday night as well.
Portageville did what it could to compete respectively. They know what Kelly is going through and was pleased with the win, but knew they had to handle the situation the best they could.
"We're happy for our kids but the first thing I told coach [Powers] after the game was I hope he didn't fell like we did anything to try and embarrass or run up the score. There's such a fine line and every coach has different ideas about what that is."
Powers understands Bullock's side as well.
"Whether people want to admit to it or not, we're in our third year of varsity and we're playing a bunch of young kids," he said. "Now they're getting banged around, but they're playing their hearts out. We have the mindset of coming in every week expecting to win."
It may be tough to imagine, but Portageville was desperate for a win.
They entered Week 5 with a 1-3 record with their only win against Chaffee in Week 2. They were hammered by Malden in Week 3 and lost a two-score game last week on the road against Piggott, Ark. A win this week would springboard them into a Week 6 matchup against SEMO Conference West and Class 1, District 1 foe Scott City.
"It's a double-edged sword," Bullock said. "We were in much need of a win tonight for our program for the season...I can't lie and say that I wasn't questioning where our kids where as a program after last week. We felt like we should have won our game against Piggott last week because I've felt we're a better football team that what we've shown lately. We came away very pleased tonight because we played hard, gave great effort and played smart football I thought."
One play was a quarterback draw for Torrey who headed to his left, shook off a tackle and reversed his course to the right looking for a hole to run towards that didn't show. He finally noticed Ryan Priggel, who caught three passes for three touchdowns, all alone with his hands in the air just inches from the end zone. Instinctively, Torrey heaved it to his senior wide receiver.
That score made it 63-0.
The Bulldogs began subbing out starters in the second quarter but the scoring didn't stop.
"We started subbing early in the second quarter, but we're very fortunate to have some pretty good skill guys and there is a drop off from our first-team to the second, but our problem is we only have 29 kids. A lot of nights when things start going good for you and the kids are excited and playing with enthusiasm, you're proud for the win but I hope people here realize that we didn't try to run up a big score."
Players who had rarely seen the field this season began making plays. Third-string quarterback Jared Crafton, a freshman, carried the ball twice and scored both times in the second half. Junior defensive back Shay West grabbed his first career interception and immediately looked to score in the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs were already up by 82.
It was a tough situation for all involved.
"You can't ask one of your kids who intercepts a pass for the first time ever and starts to run it back not try to score," Bullock said. "Kids are running dives and you can't ask them not to score. We put a freshman quarterback in for the first time ever and he had two carries and scored two touchdowns. To me, you're insulting their kids more if you tell them to take a knee or slide. I would want a team to give great effort and we stop you."
Although Kelly continues to struggle, their focus has always been to get better.
"Our mindset every week is to work hard," Powers said. "These kids are very young and they have a short memory. They're ready to go back to work every Monday and get ready. This is two tough losses in a row, but these two are amplified because of the score. But I'm 100 percent sure they're going to come in [Saturday] and watch film and come Monday they'll be ready to work."
Worley isn't deterred by his team's latest performances. He offered a quote that helped him put this season in perspective.
"You have to have a test to have a testimony," he said. "So far this year, it's been our test. But our testimony is coming. I promise."
Kelly 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Portageville 49 20 13 7 -- 89
Advertisement
Advertisement