Raider football season ends in Regional Finals
- James Townsend
- Nov 17
- 2 min read
The Portland Raiders hosted the Bulldogs of Vicksburg on Saturday afternoon for the Regional Championship game in MHSAA Division 4 football playoffs.
The Raiders had a five-point lead with only seconds left in the game. As the Bulldogs were driving in Raider territory, a Raider defender tackled a Vicksburg receiver after a completed pass. It appeared that the tackle occurred inbounds and well short of a first down, and that the clock should have remained running. For reasons unknown to me, the officials stopped the clock with nine seconds remaining, in essence giving the Bulldogs a time out when they had no timeouts remaining.
As the clock hit zero, the Bulldogs were able to score on a pass into the endzone, and the Raiders lost 42-41.
Portland senior running back Kayden Dickerson had a phenomenal game offensively. He had 33 carries for 289 yards, with five rushing touchdowns, and a long run of 62 yards. Senior Nolan Zbytowski had 13 carries for 51 yards and one rushing touchdown, along with 25 yards receiving. Senior Brad Meyers added 42 rushing yards.
Defensively, the Raiders struggled stopping Vicksburg strong passing offense, but the Raiders did have several knocked down passes and quarterback sacks, along with an interception by junior safety Deacon Townsend.
Score summary by quarter:
1st – 2nd – 3rd – 4th – Final
Portland 7 – 14 – 7 – 13 – 41
Vicksburg 3 – 7 – 19 – 13 – 42
After the game, Portland coach John Novara said, “Our kids played their hearts out tonight, we have a great group of kids who gave us everything they had, we just came up short tonight.”
With the win, Vicksburg advances to face Hudsonville Unity Christian in the state semi-finals at Caledonia at 1:00 on Saturday, November 22nd. The other Division 4 semi-final will see Goodrich face Dearborn Divine Child at Stoney Creek High School in Rochester Hills.
The 2025 Raiders team finishes the season 7-0 in the CAAC White, 11-1 overall. They finish with league and district championship titles.
The 18 seniors on the Portland squad this year had a remarkable varsity career record of 22-2 over the past two seasons. Their mark on the Raider program will not be forgotten any time soon.
You can find the Bleacher Denizen’s recap of the Portland vs Vicksburg at the link below.
Those young men and coaches we salute you. You played with integrity. Thank you for a fantastic season. The people of Portland are very proud of you and your accomplishments.