October 1, 2016
East Prairie overcomes Portageville 50-48 in overtime thriller
"It's a big rivalry. It's always a hard-fought game that comes down to the very end. We know we have to play hard all 48 minutes. In this case, we had to go over."
By Chris Pobst ~ Standard Democrat
EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Deverence Jones has a knack for delivering the crushing blow to Portageville's football team.
The senior tied the game in overtime then pushed through for the game-winning, two-point conversion during a 50-48 thriller over Portageville Friday at East Prairie High School.
It's the second time during his four-year career that Jones has crossed the end zone to beat the Bulldogs in what has turned into one of the area's more heated rivalries in recent years.
"It's a big rivalry," Jones said. "It's always a hard-fought game that comes down to the very end. We know we have to play hard all 48 minutes. In this case, we had to go over."
Jones, who took the lateral off a 'hook and ladder' to down Portageville two years ago, scored four touchdowns in a game that featured six lead changes.
The end came down to what team would be lucky enough to have the ball last and East Prairie, who won the overtime coin toss, was it.
Friday's contest was a string of touchdowns answering touchdowns. East Prairie had no answer for Portageville quarterback Ian Torrey and Lamar Alexander and Portageville had no answer for most of East Prairie's offense.
"We're the ones that had the ball last and got the lucky break," East Prairie coach Chad Jamerson said. "Portageville played great tonight. They played excellent defense and took away what they needed to. We got lucky enough to make some plays and come away with the win."
Torrey ran 32 times for 156 yards and three scores gashing the Eagles for big plays at critical times. Alexander added four touchdowns on 71 rushing yards and three catches for 74 yards.
Portageville (3-4) ran for 288 yards.
"There's not too much else I can say other than Ian Torrey is an excellent football player," Jamerson said. "He and Alexander put their team on their back and played excellent."
East Prairie (4-3) was led on the ground by Derez Tipler who had 81 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Jones had 60 yards on 14 totes. Quarterback Carson Aycock threw for 163 yards on 8 of 15 attempts. Casey Gregory caught five of those passes for 129 yards.
Both offenses combined for 758 yards. In 10 first half drives, seven of them ended with scores.
"Defenses didn't play well at all," Portageville coach Jeff Bullock said. "They have some kids that are good playmakers like Tipler and Jones but they had some others make plays."
Tied at 42-all at the end of regulation, Portageville's offense went first from the 25-yard line in overtime. It took five plays and Torrey scampered in from three yards out but the two-point conversion run was stopped short giving East Prairie it's window of opportunity.
Brian Shoffner, who ran for 69 yards, rushed towards his left for 11 yards when he was met by a host of Portageville defenders. As the Bulldogs ripped and tugged at Shoffner trying to end the game there, the ball was taken by a Portageville defender the same time the referees whistle blew to stop the play.
There was a discussion, but it was short. The officials declared the play was stopped before Shoffner lost control of the ball and East Prairie retained possession.
The next play, Jones raced to his left and into the end zone for the 14-yard tying touchdown. But his two-point run upcoming had bigger implications.
Jones received the handoff and jogged to his left looking for a hole to exploit as he kept traveling. He finally found one to his liking with one defender in his way. Jones barreled through and just crossed the goal line sending the large contingent of Eagles fans into a frenzy.
"I was running to the sideline and I usually always look to cut back and I saw I didn't have anything," Jones said. "I knew they were looking for it so I stopped and looked and saw one guy on the goal line. It was just me and that guy so it was win or go home right there."
Portageville trailed 42-36 until Alexander found the end zone from 25 yards out after a short pass from Torrey with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter.
East Prairie had two chances to end the game in regulation but turned the ball over on downs during a dangerous fourth down try and was caught by the clock during it's second try.
The Eagles' first try came down to two, fourth-and-16 plays from their own 29-yard line. Rather than punt the ball away, Jamerson took a wild chance with Tipler and his arm, substituting in for starter Carson Aycock. Off-setting penalties bailed the Eagles out the first try, but Jamerson elected to go for it again on fourth down which fell incomplete.
Luckily for the Eagles, it didn't come back to bite them. Needing to travel 29 yards for the potential game-winning score, it looked as if the Bulldogs extended the drive on it's own fourth down try and a diving Ryan Priggel looked to have made the catch. But it was ruled incomplete for the turnover on downs.
It was a game decided by close calls at vital times.
"There were some questionable calls that seemed like they always went against us," Bullock said. "That catch by Priggel was waved off and we took the ball away from them in overtime and that wasn't in our favor. I just don't understand how that works."
East Prairie now had 54 seconds to win the game and Tipler converted a long third down with a 23-yard pickup with 11 seconds to go. After another first down run from Tipler, he spiked the ball with three seconds left to set up a final try.
His pass went over the middle and fell incomplete setting up overtime.
At the end of the first quarter, East Prairie led 14-8. Five touchdowns were scored in the second quarter starting with a 12-yard run by Torrey. Tipler answered by hauling in a 5-yard pass from Aycock for a 22-16 East Prairie lead.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 22 after Alexander scored with 1:31 left in the half.
East Prairie ran into some bad luck when a high snap to Aycock landed at the five and was recovered by Portageville's RJ Nelson. Two plays later, Torrey scored giving the Bulldogs a 28-22 lead.
Trying to rush downfield with their answer, Aycock was picked off by Alexander with 11 seconds left in the first half. Instead of kneeling and heading into halftime with a 28-22 advantage, Portageville tried to make East Prairie's second turnover in a row hurt worse.
A penalty and a 14-yard play got the Bulldogs down to the 29-yard line with three seconds left. As the halftime buzzer sounded, Torrey heaved a pass into the end zone that was tipped by Tipler and landed into the hands of Casey Gregory.
Gregory ran untouched for a 102-yard interception return for touchdown giving the Eagles a 30-28 lead at the half.
"That was huge," Jamerson said.
"I was greedy there," Bullock said. "I was thinking we could go up two scores there and we got the ball at halftime and maybe make it three. But they did a good job of picking it and going the other way."
East Prairie outscored Portageville 2-1 in the third quarter setting up Alexander's tying touchdown run in the fourth.
"In a game like this its tit for tat, punch and counterpunch," Jamerson said.
Portageville currently holds the fifth seed in Class 1, District 1 one spot behind No. 4 Scott City with an away game against Red Bud, Ill., and a home game against Hayti left on the schedule. The Bulldogs hold the tiebreaker over the Rams and could leap them if the standings hold the same until the end of the season.
East Prairie is seeded fourth in Class 2, District 1 with an away game at Charleston and a home game against Kennett left to play.
Portageville 8 22 6 6 6 -- 48
East Prairie 14 16 12 0 8 -- 50
First Quarter
E -- Carson Aycock 9 pass to Casey Gregory lateral Deverence Jones 11 yards (kick failed), 10:14
P -- Lamar Alexander 10 run (Alexander run), 5:31
E -- Jones 4 run (Derez Tipler pass from Jones), 0:20
Second Quarter
P -- Ian Torrey 12 run (Alexander run), 9:12
E -- Tipler 5 pass from Aycock (Brian Shoffner run), 5:40
P -- Alexander 3 run (run failed), 1:31
P -- Torrey 1 run (run failed), 0:47
E -- Gregory 102 interception return (Jones from Aycock), 0:00
Third Quarter
E -- Jones 9 run (kick blocked), 9:12
P -- Alexander 2 run (Torrey run), 3:36
E -- Tipler 1 run (run failed), 1:58
Fourth Quarter
P -- Alexander 25 pass from Torrey (pass failed), 4:30
Overtime
P -- Torrey 3 run (run failed)
E -- Jones 14 run (Jones run)
TEAM STATISTICS
P E
First downs 17 15
Total yards 362 396
Rushes-yards 59-288 33-226
Passing yards 74 170
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-11-1 9-20-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Turnovers 1 2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Portageville, Ian Torrey 32-156, Lamar Alexander 17-71, Ryan Priggel 3-23, Samuel Young 5-21, RJ Nelson 1-14, Conner Barham 1-3. East Prairie, Derez Tipler 10-81, Deverence Jones 14-60, Brian Shoffner 6-69, Luke Marcum 2-9, Carson Aycock 1-7.
Passing -- Portageville, Ian Torrey 4-1-1 74. East Prairie, Carson Aycock 8-15-1 163, Derez Tipler 1-5-0 7.
Receiving -- Portageville, Lamar Alexander 3-59, Ryan Priggel 1-15. East Prairie, Casey Gregory 5-129, Derez Tipler 2-28, Deverence Jones 2-13.
Advertisement
Advertisement