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Portageville routs NMCC 62-0 in regular season finale
NEW MADRID -- Looking to finish the regular season on a high note, Portageville got plenty of big plays on both sides of the ball against host New Madrid County Central on Friday.
While stopping the Eagles inside just short of the end zone on two separate drives in the first half, the Bulldogs offense was able to build a 26-point lead heading into the break.
Another three scores in the first four minutes of the third quarter helped Portageville roll to a 62-0 win that secures their spot near the top of the Class 2, District 1 Tournament.
"Every week we're just getting a little bit better," Bulldogs head coach Jeff Bullock said. "It's such a rivalry game. We had a great week of practice and they were focused. (NMCC's Javarcus Word) is such a great athlete. We were fortunate he didn't bust a couple early.
"If he gets in the endzone once or twice early it changes the whole outcome and the whole outlook of the game."
As Bullock said, had a few breaks went NMCC's way the game could have looked much different at halftime.
The Eagles struck out on back-to-back drives just four and eight yards from the endzone respectively when the Bulldogs forced them to turn the ball over on downs before picking off a pass on the next drive.
With the chance to still make a game of it, the Eagles' first drive of the second half started on Portageville's 18-yard line, but soon stalled and NMCC again turned the ball over on downs.
"Early in the year people scored on us in that situation," Bullock said. "It's such a great feeling to see our kids stand up. The longer we played the more confidence they had going for them tonight.
"They started swarming to the ball. I couldn't be prouder of a group of kids."
Each time the Eagles offense stalled in the first half, the Bulldogs took advantage. Portageville scored a touchdown on all but one first half drive and racked up 226 yards before the break.
With his team down 14-0, NMCC's Chris Farr got his sideline re-energized when he picked off a Jon Garrett Kellams pass and took it back into Portageville territory.
A late pass interference was called, however, to give the Bulldogs the ball back and they went on to score on a Daniel McCray 43-yard run, making it 20-0 with 8:58 left in the half.
Kellams found Hunter Gates for a 36-yard touchdown with 2:48 to give his team its 26-point lead going into the locker room.
"We had our chances to make plays," Eagles' head coach John Dryden said. "We actually had our chances to win the game. Statistically I would guess we were (close to) even going into the half.
"Their big plays got us. We were out of position a couple times and that's what happened."
Portageville got the ball to start the second half, scoring three times in just under a minute-and-a-half thanks to a pair of NMCC fumbles on kickoffs. The last of the three, a 38-yard touchdown from Kellams to Will Crysler made it 46-0 with 8:10 still left in the third quarter.
"I'd like to think part of that was our kids aggressiveness," Bullock said of the scoring outburst. "I know the ball fell on the ground a couple times, but I'd like to think it was because we were going up and hitting and playing with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement."
Out-gaining the Eagles 494-159 on the night, the Bulldogs' offense was well balanced with 216 yards on the ground and 278 in the air.
Senior running back rushed 17 times for 211 yards and four touchdowns and quarterback Jon Garrett Kellams went 14 of 23 for 278 yards and five scores.
McCray averaged 12.4 yards per carried and broke off seperate runs of 38, 43 and 73 yards.
Kellams kept the passing game diverse as usual, hitting five different receivers with Gates catching five passes for 71 yards and two scores. Crysler had three catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns while Ian Torrey caught four passes for 51 yards and a score.
"Early they took away our passing game," Bullock said. "They had a good game plan. They were bringing seven after us and we didn't have enough guys to block them. Instead of keeping a kid in we were taking a chance and they're good enough athletes we had some incompletions.
"The kids made a few adjustments themselves and we were fortunate enough to get (going)."
For NMCC, Javarcus Word got his usually heavy workload. He carried 34 times for 152 yards, accounting for 96 percent of his team's offensive yards.
With the regular season now over NMCC (1-8) is the last seed in the Class 3, District 1 Tournament and will likely face top-seeded Ste. Genevieve (8-1).
Portageville (6-3) currently sits as the third seed in Class 2, District 1. No. 4 Hayti, however, holds the head-to-head matchup and could challenge to jump ahead of them following the Indians' Saturday game against Ridgeview, Ill.
"We're not sure where we're going to fall," Bullock said. "We really hope something happens where maybe points wise we might be able to slide by Caruthersville just to keep us between them and Hayti, because we know Hayti will automatically pass us.
"We're at that point right now there's eight teams in it and you have to win three games. Regardless of who we play, if we don't win three games it doesn't matter who we play the first round because if you don't act right there won't be a second round."
| Portageville | 14 | 12 | 28 | 8 | - | 62 |
| NMCC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
First Quarter
P -- Daniel McCray 3 run (Hunter Gates pass from Jon Garrett Kellams good), 8:28
P -- Will Crysler 60 pass from Jon Garrett Kellams (Daniel McCray run failed), 4:15
Second Quarter
P -- Daniel McCray 43 run (Jon Garrett Kellams pass failed), 8:58
P -- Hunter Gates 36 pass from Jon Garrett Kellams (Jon Garrett Kellams pass failed), 2:48
Third Quarter
P -- Hunter Gates 24 yard pass (Jon Garrett Kellams pass failed), 9:39
P -- Ian Torrey 15 pass from Jon Garrett Kellams (Daniel McCray run good), 9:20
P -- Will Crysler 38 pass from Jon Garrett Kellams (Jon Garrett Kellams pass failed), 8:10
P -- Daniel McCray 73 run (Ryan Priggel run good), 3:49
Fourth Quarter
P -- Daniel McCray 38 run (Will Crysler run good), 7:52
TEAM STATISTICS
| P | N | |
| Total Yards | 494 | 159 |
| Rushes-yards | 25-216 | 47-159 |
| Passing yards | 278 | 0 |
| Comp.-Att.-Int. | 14-23-0 | 0-3-2 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Portageville, Daniel McCray 17-211, Jon Garrett Kellams 1-(-13), Will Crysler 1-(-5), Ryan Priggel 1-5, Brian Pearson 4-19, Connor Barham 1-(-1). NMCC, Javarcus Word 34-152, Craig Beasley 4-9, Chris Farr 1-0, Brock Blakey 4-(-16), JaMonte Sykes 3-12, Jordan Lynn 1-2.
Passing -- Portageville, Jon Garrett Kellams 14-23-0 278. NMCC, Javarcus Word 0-1-0 0, Brock Blakey 0-2-2 0.
Receiving -- Portageville, Hunter Gates 5-71, Will Crysler 3-106, Daniel McCray 1-43, Ian Torrey 4-51, Ryan Priggel 1-7. NMCC, none.