Shamrocks win league opener

The Shamrocks of Portland St. Patrick hosted the Fulton Pirates for a league match on Saturday, September 11th. Fulton is in their first year in 8 man football, and they came loaded with 16 juniors and seniors, against the Shamrocks 4 upperclassmen and 14 sophomores and freshmen. The Shamrocks proved that they were much faster and better conditioned than the far larger Pirates (three players over 300 pounds), and won the game handily 62-36.

In the first quarter, St. Patrick struggled a bit offensively against the huge defensive line of Fulton, and were only able to score once, when Lucas Simon punched it in from 7 yards out. Derec Fedewa punched in the two point conversion to make it 8-0. The Shamrock defense held strong, and did not allow a score in the first.

In the second quarter, St. Patrick scored first when Derec Fedewa broke free for 40 yards and after the good extra point kick by Tyler Groothuis, the score was 15-0. Fulton came right back and broke loose for a 62 yard run on the next series. The Shamrocks scored on the next three series, with two rushing touchdowns from Derec Fedewa, and a 34 yard TD reception by Shane Cook to lead 36-6 with about 35 seconds in the first half. On the first play from scrimmage, a misalignment by the Shamrock defense led to a 66 yard run from the pirates to make the halftime score 36-14.

The Pirates received the ball first, and wasted no time, marching down the field behind their big line and made the score 36-22. St. Patrick put two more up on the Pirates with a 64 yard scamper from Lucas Simon, and a 17 yard touchdown catch from Shane Cook to leave the score 49-22 after three quarters.

With the Pirates still battling, the Shamrocks put two more scores up to open the fourth quarter, with a Lucas Simon 12 yard run, and a Derec Fedewa 27 yard run, making the score 62-22 halfway into the fourth quarter. The Pirates refused to bend the knee, scoring the last two touchdowns of the game, making the final 62-36.

Offensive leaders for the Shamrocks were Derec Fedewa who had 218 yards and 4 touchdowns, Lucas Simon who went 2 for 5 for 51 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 18 times for 140 yards and 3 touchdowns. Payton Russman had 15 carries for 101 yards, and Shane Cook had 2 receptions for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Defensive leaders were Braxton Teachworth with 14 tackles 6 assists 1 sack and 4 Tackles for Loss (TFL), Derec Fedewa had 5 tackles 4 assists 1 sack and 3 TFL, and Shane Cook had 3 tackles and 5 assists.

The Shamrocks travel north to Onekama, for a Saturday game at 2 pm on September 18th. The Portagers are are 0-2, losing to Manistee Catholic Central and Baldwin.