Portland Tops Ovid-Elsie In Pre-Districts

“The Autumn Wind is a Raider,

Pillaging just for fun.

He'll knock you 'round and upside down,

And laugh when he's conquered and won.”

(from Steve Sabol’s poem The Autumn Wind)

On Friday, the autumn wind rolled in, and the Raiders rolled on to a 33-19 win over the visiting Marauders in a Division 5 Pre-District match up.

The Marauders started the game with the ball at their own 20 after (Sr) K Tate Dziewiatowski booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback. After a short drive, Marauder (So) P Jackson Thornton would come on to punt from the Marauder 47. On 3rd down 8, (Jr) QB Owen Russell connected with (Sr) WR Blake Patrick for a 38-yard strike. The Raiders would move down to the Marauder 2-yard line but could not punch it in and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal off the foot of Dziewiatowski. With 1:49 left in the 1st Qtr Portland 3 Ovid-Elsie-Elsie 0. However, on the ensuing kickoff, Marauder (Jr) KR Shayne Loynes returned Dziewiatowski’s kickoff 96 yards to put the Marauders up 7-3 after Thornton’s extra point with 1:34 left in the 1st Qtr. At the end of the 1st Qtr Portland 3 Ovid-Elsie 7.

The Raiders would put a touchdown of their own on the board when (Sr) SB Jake Veale plunged into the end zone on 3rd and goal from the Marauder 3-yard line. Dziewiatowski’s extra point was good. With 7:37 left in the 1st half, Portland 10 Ovid-Elsie 7. With :47 left in the half, the Marauders lined up on 4th and 5 but Marauder (Sr) QB Jakob Loynes pass to (Sr) RB Devin Kora fell incomplete. The Raiders took over on their own 46 with :43 left in the half. The Raider Offense would go to work when Russell hit Veale on a short route that Veale turned into a 22-yard gain moving the ball to the Marauder 32 with :27 left in the half. On 3rd and 4 from the Marauder 26, Russell hooked up with (Jr) WR David Svanda for a 22-yard gain moving the ball down to the Marauder 4-yard line. Russell quickly spiked the ball leaving :01 on the clock. Dziewiatowski came on to attempt a 22 yard field goal, but the Marauder Defense was able to block it. After a long return, Svanda was able to make the tackle to end the half. Half Time Portland 10 Ovid-Elsie 7.

The Raiders would get off to a kick start when Veale returned the kickoff to the Marauder 35. The Marauders were flagged for a personal foul face mask which moved the ball to the Marauder 20. Veale would quickly finish the drive when he scored on 1st and goal from 9 yards out. Dziewiatowski’s extra point was good. With 11:13 left in the 3rd Qtr Portland 17 Ovid-Elsie 7. The Marauders would get on the board again when (Sr) RB Logan Del Bosque scored from 1 yard out after Shayne Loynes had another big kickoff return to the Raider 15. Thornton’s extra point was no good after (Sr) NT Dylan Arthur got a piece of the kick. With 7:22 left in the 3rd Qtr Portland 17 Ovid-Elsie 13. The Raiders would answer when Veale plunged in from 1 yard out. Dziewiatowski’s extra point was good. With 3:12 left in the 3rd Qtr Portland 24 Ovid-Elsie 13 and that’s how the score would stay at the end of the 3rd Qtr.

In the 4th Qtr, Veale would bust off a 35-yard run but the drive would falter on 4th and 5 when Russell’s attempted pass to Veale fell incomplete after what looked like a lot of contact before the ball got there. The Marauders took over on their own 5-yard line which left the Raider Defense licking their chops. Eager to put some points on the board themselves, (Sr) DT Bobby Brandsen chased down Marauder (Jr) QB Aaron Hurst from behind forcing a fumble which slipped out of the end zone for a safety putting Portland up 26-13 with 2:55 left in the game. After an unsportsmanlike conduct on the Marauders, the Marauders would have to kick the free kick from their own 10-yard line. The Marauders attempted the onside kick but the Raiders hands team fielded the ball setting the Raider Offense up on the Marauder 22-yard line. On 4th down, (Jr) QB Brody Smith connected with (Jr) RB Jordan Selby for a 19-yard touchdown. Dziewiatowski’s extra point was good. With 2:08 left in the game Portland 33 Ovid-Elsie 13. The Marauders would narrow the margin after Kora scored from 1 yard out with 1:08 left in the game. The Marauders went for 2 but the attempt failed. The Raiders would finish the game by taking a knee. Final Portland 33 Ovid-Elsie 13.

For the 2nd year in a row, the Raiders will host Lansing Catholic in a District game after defeating Ovid-Elsie. Last year’s score was a 35-0 shutout. Lansing Catholic comes in 9-1 after a thrilling pre-district win over Olivet 22-21. The 10-0 Raiders will have to go back to work this week and have to have a good week of practices to prepare for this game. The Raiders won this year’s week 5 matchup 16-8. I think both teams are different than they were in week 5 and anything can happen in a rivalry game. Raider Nation will be out in force Friday night at 7 p.m. This time of year, is all about heart. “Every time a player goes out to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be Number One in any business. But more important, you've got to play with you heart - with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.” - Vince Lombardi

After the game Coach Novara said, “I thought our kids played well tonight with the exception of our special teams. We gave up three huge returns and one for a score and got a field goal blocked. We have to find ways to be more efficient in all three phases of the game. Ovid-Elsie is a physical aggressive football team and they are well coached. I thought our kids played with some nerves tonight, many of them saw their first playoff action tonight.”

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Scoring Summary [endif]

Portland 3 - 7 - 14 - 9 = 33

OE 7 - 0 - 6 - 6 = 19

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1st Quarter

Port -Tate Dziewiatkowski 20 yard FG [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

OE -Jacob Loynes 96 yard TD return

Thorton XPT

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2nd Quarter [endif]

Port - Jacob Veale 3 yard TD run

Tate XPT

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3rd Quarter [endif]

Port - Jacob Veale 9 Yard TD run

Tate Xpt

[endif]

OE -Logan Delbosque 1 yard TD run

XPT failed

[endif]

Port - Jacob Veale 1 yard TD run

Tate Xpt [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

4th Quarter

Port - Ovid Elsie ball out of back of end zone safety

[endif]

Port - Brody Smith to Jordan Selby 19 Yard TD pass

Tate XPt

[endif]

OE - Kora 1 yard TD run

Xpt Failed

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Rushing Portland [endif]

Blake Meyers 12 for 68

Jacob Veale 22 for 141 3 TD's

Owen Russell 3 for 12

Gavin McGregor 3 for 5

Trevor Lattimer 2 for 2

Hunter Hoppes 2 for 6

Jordan Selby 1 for -5 [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

Passing Portland

Owen Russell 4 for 8 88 yards

Brody Smith 1 for 1 19 yards TD

[endif]

Tackles

Dylan Arthur 8

Hunter Hohman 5 2 PBR