2 weeks Ago By By VINNY PEZZIMENTI Olean Times Herald
PORTVILLE — A lost fumble on the first play from scrimmage turned out to be a sign of more unwelcome moments to come for the Portville/Cuba-Rushford football team. The Panthers coughed up three more fumbles and couldn’t put the clamps on a big-play Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove offense on Friday night. The result was a one-sided 34-14 loss in a Section 6, Class C South contest.
“That was a good old fashioned butt whipping,” Portville/C-R coach Josh Brooks said. “I don't know how long it's been since we got whacked like that. It's been a couple of years.
“That was a wake up call for everyone. We faced a lot of adversity. We didn't handle it very well.
We obviously had a ton of turnovers. We fumbled the first snap of the game. You give that group of kids some momentum like that, that can be dangerous, and they took full advantage of that momentum.
Once they had that momentum, we couldn't get it stopped.” Behind 147 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Mathis Baher, the Herd improved to 3-0 (2-0 league). Coach Curt Fischer’s team has outscored opponents 109-31 in those victories.
Portville/C-R, meanwhile fell to 1-2 (0-2 league). “It’s hard to win any football game like that, no matter who you're playing,” Brooks said. “But playing a well-coached team like that, it’s almost impossible.
We’ve got to learn from our mistakes. “We came out flat. We just can't do that.
We talked at the beginning of the year that this is a really good league. That's a really good team. We're much better than how we played tonight, but we have to show that.
We have to improve and get back to work.” F/CV/MG moved 25 yards for a Baher 9-yard score following the Panthers’ opening-snap fumble. The Herd made it 13-0 on their next drive thanks to an 88-yard scoring pass from Jacob Roth to Rider Carlson.
Baher, following Portville-C-R’s second fumble, tacked on a 13-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 20-0 before halftime and chipped in scoring rushes of 15 and 12 in the second half. Roth (5 of 8 for 175 yards) completed throws of 38, 26, and 23 yards to Baher, who racked up 234 of the Herd’s 384 total yards on 23 touches. “I thought our line took some really great strides tonight,” Fischer said of a Herd unit that paved the way for 209 ground yards.
“We work so hard on our line. That's been a weakness for us for a few years. I thought they did a great job.
And, of course, Mathis was outstanding. Every big play we had to have, he stepped up and made some big plays. But I was so proud of our line.
I thought they played great.” Portville/C-R trailed 27-0 before it got on the board with a 22-yard TD catch from Aidan DeFazio in the third quarter. Adam Roe added a five-yard scoring run in the game’s final seconds for the Panthers.
Portville/C-R could have had more points. The Panthers lost a fumble on a first down run after marching inside the Herd’s 30 in the first half. They lost another at the Herd two-yard line in the last two minutes of the third quarter.
They also failed to score at the end of the first half after driving to within 13 yards of the goal line. Eli Sleggs connected on 11 of 21 passes for 195 yards for Portville/C-R. Maxx DeYoe led the Panthers on the ground with 67 yards on 16 attempts.
Pacing the Portville/C-R receivers were DeFazio (two receptions for 81 yards), Mehki Muhyee (3-34), and Roe (2-53). David Markham led the Herd defense with 20 solo tackles, three for loss. The Panthers look to bounce back at Eden/North Collins next Friday.
“Some of the really good teams we've had, we really haven't been challenged in the past or gotten our butts whipped,” Brooks said. “Again, it's a wake up call. So we're going to rise to the occasion or fold it in.
I know these kids. They're not ready to fold it in.” AT PORTVILLE Falconer/CV/MG 13 7 14 0 – 34 Portville/C-R 0 0 6 8 – 14 First Quarter Falconer/CV/MG – Mathis Baher 9 run (25 yards, 4 plays after fumble recovery); Rider Carlson kick, 7-0 Falconer/CV/MG – Carlson 82 pass from Jacob Roth (88 yards, 3 plays); conversion failed, 13-0 Second Quarter Falconer/CV/MG – Baher 13 run (73 yards, 9 plays); Carlson kick, 20-0 Third Quarter Falconer/CV/MG – Baher 15 run (54 yards, 5 plays); Carlson kick, 27-0 Portville/C-R – Aidan DeFazio 22 pass from Eli Sleggs (65 yards, 4 plays); run failed, 27-6 Falconer/CV/MG – Baher 12 run (61 yards, 6 plays); Carlson kick, 34-6 Fourth Quarter Portville/C-R – Adam Roe 5 run (78 yards, 8 plays); Roe run, 34-4 TEAM STATISTICS FCM PCR First Downs 16 16 Rushes-Yards 41-209 32-123 Passing Yards 175 195 Comp-Att-int 5-8-0 11-21-0 Total Yards 384 318 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-4 Penalties-Yards 8-61 1-5 Punts-Avg 2-22.
0 2-26.5 Total Plays 49 53.
