Raiders top Vikings to advance in post season

On Friday night, the Portland Raider football team hosted the Vikings of Lakewood in the pre-district round of the 2020 MHSAA Division 5 football playoffs. An outstanding performance by the Raider defense coupled with an explosive offensive night would propel Portland to a 51-7 victory.

Portland’s junior QB Haden Getchell got the Raider offense rolling when he connected with senior receiver Trevor Williams for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 10:20 remaining in the first. Senior kicker Cameron Roof would connect on the point after. The Raiders would score again with 8:20 left in the first when junior full back Reis Phillips broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run. Roof connected on the point after giving Portland a 14-0 lead. Portland’s junior running back Trent Trierweiler would join the Raider scorers when he ran the ball in for a two-yard touchdown with 10:15 left in the 2nd. Roof’s point after was good. With 8:46 left in the 2nd, junior running back Caden Galey would scamper in from 25-yards out. Roof's successful point after would extend Portland’s lead to 28-0. As time expired on the first half of play, Roof would add on to the Portland lead when he connected on a 28-yard field goal. As the teams went to halftime, Portland would lead 31-0. With 10:35 left in the 3rd, Phillips would pick up his second touchdown of the game. This time on a 1-yard run. Junior kicker Madison Luxmore would connect on the point after making the score 38-20. With 5:16 left in the 3rd Portland sophomore Drew Miller would score on a 4-yard touchdown run. Luxmore’s point after was good and the Red Raiders lead moved to 45-0. Late in the third, the Vikings would reach the endzone for the one and only time of the night when senior Garrett Stank broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run. Lakewood’s Elizabeth Minard connected on the point after making the score 45-7. Portland’s Trierweiler would pick up his second touchdown of the game with 8:25 remaining in the game. This time on a 49-yard run. The point after was no good. The final score would be Portland 51, Lakewood 7. Scoring summary by quarter: Portland 14 - 17 - 14 - 7 = 51

Lakewood 0 - 0 - 7 - 0 = 7

Portland Rushing

Caden Galey 10 for 156, 1 TD

Reis Phillips 7 for 98, 2 TD's

Trent Trieweiler 5 for 83, 2 TD's

Drew Miller 6 for 43, 1 TD

Portland Passing

Haden Getchell 3 for 9 for 101yards 1 TD

Portland Tackles

Natan Zimmerman 7

Chandler Murton 7

Caden Galey 7

Portland Interceptions

Trent Meyers 1

Ethan Patrick 1

After the game, Raider head coach John Novara said, “I thought we played very good defense. I thought our kids were very disciplined stopping their veer. The kids did what they were supposed to do defensively. Still made a couple mistakes offensively. We cannot have two first-half turnovers again, so we just have to clean those things up. We are going to have a tough game in front of us for sure. Lakewood plays hard. They have some speed. I just thought or kids executed well tonight defensively.”

Novara went on to say, “The defense played great. I think we played four (offensive) plays in the first quarter and two of them were for touchdowns. I thought Reis Phillips ran hard. He is a very physical back for us and he also blocked very well for us tonight so I thought he had a great game. Haden Getchell made some really nice plays, he made some nice passes, on both sides of the ball had some really nice plays. We just need to clean up the little mistakes. I thought we had a lot of those tonight, and we just get back to work on Monday.”

When asked about the playoff atmosphere, Novara said, “It was nice to have a few more fans tonight. It is not a normal playoff atmosphere for us but it was a little bit better having the kids here and some of the student section, and a few more people in the crowd, so it was nice to play in front of people. The kids love it. I think we will have a decent crowd this week at West Catholic.”

The Falcons of Grand Rapids West Catholic advanced to the district semi-final by defeating Comstock Park 41-0 on Friday night. West Catholic is 6-1 on the season, with their only loss being a 39-21 defeat by perennial powerhouse Hudsonville Unity Christian in week two of the COVID shortened season.

Portland and West Catholic are scheduled to play on Friday, November 6th at West Catholic. The winner will advance to face the winner of the Belding and Grand Rapids Catholic Central for the district championship on November 13th.