By HUNTER O. LYLE
BARKER, NY – Fighting a dearth of size on the line of scrimmage, as well as a gaps in their roster, the Portville/Bolivar-Richburg/Cuba-Rushford football team’s trip to the playoffs ended in the first round, being eliminated from the Section VI Class C contention by Barker/Roy-Hart, 47-14.
With a clutch win over Salamanca in the final week of the regular season, the Panthers emerged from the Class C South standings with the fourth and final qualifying seed for the postseason. However, their eyes immediately turned uphill as they drew the best team in the bracket: the Bulls. Missing a few key pieces to their roster, notably second-leading running back Liam Taylor who went down in the second quarter against the Warriors with a shoulder injury, they knew the odds were stacked against them.
“We knew we had to stop the run. We knew (Barker/Roy-Hart wasn’t) going to change anything up. They’ve been really successful throughout the year from what they’ve been doing,” said Portville/Bolivar-Richburg/Cuba-Rushford head coach Josh Brooks. “They’re big and strong up front and they have one heck of an athlete in the backfield. That’s a really good football team.”
While the Panthers’ ground game had brought them to the playoffs, the Bulls’ own had carried them to the top Section VI. Boasting a section-leading 2,924 rushing yards, it quickly became clear how they established their success.
Outsizing Portville considerably on the line of scrimmage, Barker/Roy-Hart continuously won the battle in the trenches, creating large gaps and lanes for their star running back, Cater Dersarkissian, to burst through from the backfield. Finding openings, as well as his strength allowing him to break through tackles, the Bulls capped off their first drive with a 51-yard touchdown.
Meanwhile, Portville’s offense ultimately succumbed to the same problem. Unable to hold off the defensive pressure at the line, the main weapon in their arsenal, Hayden Schappacher, was ground to a halt along with their possession.
“We’re loading the box and playing man-zero, that’s about all you can do. When (Barker/Roy-Hart) is able to execute against that, that’s a credit to them and their players,” said Brooks. “They’re staff is really fortunate to have the team that they have.”
Barker/Roy-Hart repeated their initial success on the second drive, marching 56 yards down the field to go up 13-0, before a one-snap-73-yard touchdown on their third gave them a 21-0 advantage. Forced to attempt every fourth down in front of them, the Panthers continued to search for answers – both on the ground with Schappacher and through the air via Peyton Carter – but came up empty. Their own second possession came up 45 yards short of the endzone, their third 32 yards short and their fourth 40 yards short on fourth-and-inches stunting.
“Losing Liam (Taylor) last week certainly changes things up and it really stinks. We kind of found our stride last week in the first half and now we had to switch it up,” said Brooks. “The kids did a really nice job of switching it up and playing multiple positions and we gave it our best shot offensively. It wasn’t great but they’re high school kids, they’re great kids, they play hard and that’s all I could ask from them.”
Going down by 27, the Panthers eventually found their first win of the night with the special teams unit. Receiving the kickoff on the six-yard-yard line, Carter plotted a path up the right sideline and dashed across the gridiron, putting Portville on the board with a 94-yard touchdown. However, Barker/Roy-Hart was quick to respond, using four snaps and 46 seconds to retaliate and push their lead back to 27 at half.
Entering the third, Portville found another rally in the form of their first stop. On a bad Bulls snap turned fumble, the Panthers gained field position on their own 32. Leaning on Carter, he found a 12-yard gain from a pass to Dylan Wenke to move the chains in what looked like budding momentum. A one-yard carry put them on second-and-nine, but another breakdown at the line led to a massive 11-yard sack. Coupled with a holding penalty and a minor gain on third down, the Panthers’ offense walked off the field empty-handed.
Although they gained access to the endzone one more time, seeing Tyler Wilson come down with a reception mid-way through the fourth, their gains proved inconsequential. The Bulls had run up the score, and ran away with the game, ultimately ending the Panthers’ season.
Cater ended with 14 passing yards on a 3-for-7 completion rate while also picking up 11 yards on the ground. Schappacher came away with 31 rushing yards while Pavia had 21.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. To be able to finish in our league 6-2, make a playoff berth in a nine-team league that’s been the most competitive it’s been in a long time, it’s something to be proud of,” said Brooks. “We had a lot of kids step up, we found ways to win games all year. I’m not upset, I’m happy for our kids.”
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