By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
SOUTHWESTERN, NY – Playing through growing pains that materialized in worries and woes on both sides of the ball, the Portville football team suffered their second shutout loss of the season, losing to Southwestern/Frewsburg 34-0.
A week prior, the Panthers were on their home field, coming off a blowout win over Allegany-Limestone. However, they were quickly brought back to Earth as Chautauqua Lake came into town, posting a 42-0 Portville defeat in front of the Maroon and White home fans. Looking to shake off the loss, the Panthers circled areas in improvement across the board.
“Our focus and mindset was pretty simple. We wanted to play harder and show more effort,” said Portville head coach Josh Brooks. “We’re not very physical, we’re not tackling very well, we’re not blocking very well. That’s a rough formula.”
Now they entered hostile territory for the first time all season, facing the undefeated Trojans who proved how they had amassed a 99-12 margin of victory early into the evening. Through two weeks, Southwestern’s main weapon had been Bradyn Fuller, a fourth-year running back who is equal parts strong and fast. The Trojans wasted no time putting the ball in his hands as quickly found gains down the gridiron, culminating in a 43-yard touchdown run in the first three minutes of play.
“This is I think the fourth year we’ve had to play against (Fuller.). He’s a good running back and his quarterback is a dual threat too so you really can’t key in on one guy,” said Brooks. “We just have to read our keys and make plays. Credit to their offensive line, they were really, really good up front and we struggled to get off blocks.”
On their initial possession, the Panthers looked poised to respond. Although unable to cover large swaths of the field at a time, they slowly collected yardage with gains from Kingston Loucks, both in the air and on the ground, and from their mobile quarterback Aidan DeFazio, who carried Portville to a first down on a crucial fourth-and-three scenario.
Making it down to the edge of the redzone, the Panthers’ tooth-and-nail drive collapsed as a throw over the middle was picked off by the Trojans. Taking off from their own 42-yard-line, Southwestern closed out the first quarter with another score, this time via a six-yard pass to Roger Markham.
That would be the closest Portville would get to the endzone through the first two quarters. They would be forced off the field in three during their next possession, then watch Southwestern cross the field for their third score in just under three minutes, before a sack-fumble produced a 28-0 deficit with still eight minutes to go before the break.
The Panthers would finally find a much needed stop late in the second. Stunting the Trojans in the red zone with clutch coverage, including a pass deflection from DeFazio in the endzone, Portville salvaged one last possession. Finding Loucks for a few short receptions, they raced the clock before landing just beyond mid-field. However, their final two hail marys would come up empty, leaving them to face a 28-0 mountain to climb entering halftime.
“We did some good things (in the first half.) We moved the ball a little bit at the start and we made a couple mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot,” said Brooks. “We have to learn not to make those mistakes. It’s a new team, a new year and we have to keep learning and keep getting better.”
As in the first half, just as the Panthers began building steam, catastrophe struck. Getting the ball on their own 28, Portville made their way across midfield with plays from DeFazio and Adam Roe, eventually settling on the Trojans’ 36-yard-line. But as they eyed up what could have been their first scoring drive, another interception dashed their hopes. To make matters worse, after returning the pick to the opposite 12-yard-line, Southwestern would score two plays later, with Trent Lewis running it in to go up by 34.
Playing through a running clock, Portville couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole. Punting on their next drive, they would stop Southwestern once again but suffer another sack-fumble and a third interception on their final two touches. Taking over with just 10 seconds left, the Trojans lined up in victory formation, kneeling the ball and sealing their third win of the year.
DeFazio finished his third game as a quarterback with 91 passing yards, completing eight of his 18 throws downrange. His main target on the night was Loucks, who caught four passes for 65 yards. On the ground, Roe led the Panthers with 38 rushing yards on 10 touches.
Putting the game in the past, Portville will have to do some soul searching as they move forward. Up next, they finish their two-game road trip with a matchup with Fredonia (1-1) next Friday at 7 p.m.
“We’ve played two really good football teams the last two weeks. We know they’re going to be near the top of our league,” said Brooks. “It is what it is. Hopefully it’s a blessing in disguise to get them early but we certainly have to get better in all phases of the game. We know that, the kids know that. They didn’t quit tonight, that’s just a really good football team.”
