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E.P. pulls off district upset of Portageville
EAST PRAIRIE - The East Prairie Eagles turned in their best defensive performance of the season Friday night and upset the Portageville Bulldogs 28-17. The win was the Eagles' third of the season to make them 3-6 while Portageville falls to 5-4.
The Eagles scored all of their points in the first half of play as junior Dez Johnson, who rushed for 131 yards and caught three passes for 77 yards, ran right through the Portageville defenders.
The Bulldogs could muster only a C.J. Medley 28-yard field goal at the 6:38 mark of the first period. That was the only lead the Bulldogs would have in the game.
Johnson's 55-yard touchdown at the 2:26 point of the initial quarter put the Eagles ahead 7-3 at the end of one.
Portageville lost three fumbles in the game. Two of those happened in the second quarter and led to two Eagles' touchdowns.
East Prairie opened the second quarter with a nine-play drive capped by Johnson's one-yard run for a score to make the count 14-3.
The Eagles capitalized on the Bulldog fumbles and scored twice in the last two minutes of the half.
Johnson tallied his third touchdown of the game on a 7-yard run at the 1:22 point following a Portageville fumble.
The fourth and final Eagle score came from Johnson on a 24-yard scamper with only 24 seconds left in the half. That put the Eagles ahead 28-3.
"What won the game tonight was our defense. Coach Adkinsson did a great job scheming these guys this week and my hat's off to Coach Adkinsson. They allowed our offense to stay on the field which let us chop the clock away," explained Eagle coach Jason Aycock. "Overall it was a great effort for our guys and the defense won this game for us tonight."
Matt Moody gave the Bulldogs their first touchdown of the game with a great effort on a tipped ball that he stayed with and caught, then rambled into the end zone with a 50-yard effort at the 2:17 mark of the third stanza.
Portageville finished the scoring with 1:47 left in the contest when Antonio Scott ran in from nine yards out. Scott ran in the conversion.
"We had some penalties there early and we're having a hard time fighting adversity right now," commented Portageville coach Ashley Swims. "Our biggest problem all year has been our injuries and we've had to move people around and it's hard to get cohesion. Our passing game hasn't come around like we thought it would and our quarterback has been hurt all year.''