Portland football secures outright CAAC White Championship with 49-7 win over Charlotte

Portland hosted Charlotte on Friday night for the Raiders’ final home game of the 2025 regular season.  Thanks to a strong defense display for the Raiders, including four interceptions, and 100+ yard rushing performances by two Portland running backs, the Raiders secured a 49-7.

Senior running back Kayden Dickerson picked up Portland’s first points of the night on a rushing touchdown with 8:50 remaining in the first quarter of play.  Senior kicker Leo Wagner connected on his extra point giving Portland a 7-0 lead.

With 5:02 remaining in the first quarter, Dickerson punched it into the endzone again.  Wagner’s successful extra point extended the lead to 14-0.

Dickerson picked up his third rushing touchdown of the night with 5:52 left in the second quarter.  Wagner’s kick was good giving Portland a 21-0 lead. 

Charlotte came out with a bit of trickery for the kick return to start the second half of play.  The Orioles ran the kick back for a touchdown, their only one of the night.

At the 8:19 mark in the third quarter of play, Portland senior running back Nolan Zbytowski punched it in for the Raiders.  Wagner’s point after extended Portland’s lead to 28-7. 

With 6:08 remaining in the third, Dickerson got his fourth and final rushing touchdown of the night.  Wagner’s point after extended Portland’s lead to 35-7. 

With just 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Zbytowski got his second rushing touchdown.  Wagner’s successful extra point extended the lead to 42-7.

The Raiders final points of the night came with 2:57 remaining in the game.  This one a rushing touchdown by junior Deacon Townsend.  Wagner finished the night with a perfect seven for seven giving the Raiders a 49-7 lead.

Zbytowski finished the game with 179 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns.  Dickerson finished with 146 yards on 15 carries and four touchdowns. 

Senior quarterback Ethan Cassel went three of six passing for 32 yards.  Senior receiver Brady Rowe had one catch for 11 yards.  Senior Brad Meyers had one catch for 30 yards.

Meyers led the Raider defense with eight tackles and one fumble recovery.  Dickerson had six tackles and one interception.  Senior Gunnar Williams had six tackles.  Junior Lian Wolfe added five tackles.  Senior Carter White had four tackles.  Townsend, junior Kehyan Page, and senior Max Sandborn each had interceptions for Portland.

With the win the Raiders improve to 8-0 overall, and finished CAAC White with a perfect 7-0 record.

Having played seven games in eight weeks (Ionia forfeited to Portland in week four), Portland has outscored it opponents 306 to 38 so far this year, holding opponents to 12 points or less each week.

This season’s CAAC White title is the Raiders’ fourth straight in the last four seasons.  The Raiders have now won their last 27 league contests.

Next week the Raiders will trek 90+ miles towards Lake Michigan to face the Vikings of Whitehall to close out their regular season.  Whitehall defeated Fremont 56-0 in week eight to improve their record to 5-3 on the season.