Trojans capitalize on key 2nd half moments to outlast Redmen in shootout

PORTSMOUTH — A shift in momentum in the early moments of the third quarter, and some superlative plays from some key offensive players helped the Portsmouth Trojans pull away from Rock Hill to beat the Redmen 43-35 on Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

"It's nice when those breaks go your way," said Portsmouth coach Brandon Sammons. "Coming out of halftime, we had some conversations about where we were missing in the first half defensively."

The Trojans saw much of their offensive success come from a trio of playmakers.

Quarterback Camron Williams finished 21 of 26 passing for 299 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Williams also ran for 62 yards and two scores. Williams' top passing target was Mekhi Berry who finished with a game-high 165 yards on 7 receptions.

The ground game got a one-two punch from Williams and teammate Fernando Poxes. The senior running back carried the ball 16 times for 73 yards and a score. Poxes also caught 8 passes for 36 yards.

In the first half, the Redmen grabbed the momentum from the start.

After forcing a three-and-out, Rock Hill drove down the field in five plays to get the first points of the night.

Kelan Davidson took a handoff to his left and slid to the outside and went down the sideline for a 23-yard scoring run. Cameron Howard kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.

Portsmouth answered quickly, getting two big chunk plays to end the drive. First, it was Williams tucking it and running 20 yards. Then Williams found Mekhi Berry streaking down the middle of the field for a 45-yard strike to even the score following Eli Roth's extra point.

Davidson added his second rushing score on the next drive by Rock Hill to give his team the lead again.

Portsmouth would answer again with a score, this time it was Poxes cutting his way through the defense for an 18-yard run to even the score at 14-all after one quarter of play.

The Trojans would force a fumble on Rock Hill's next drive and cash in on the takeaway.

Williams would score on a three-yard run to give Portsmouth its first lead at 20-14 at the 10:46 mark of the second.

The lead wouldn't last long, as Rock Hill would answer in two plays.

After a gain of three by Davidson on first down, Bridges would roll to his left and find a wide open Rhenin Russell cutting across the field for a 45-yard touchdown strike. Howard's extra point put Rock Hill back in front 21-20.

The Redmen would take the lead and momentum with them into the locker room.

The Trojans got their first big break at the beginning of the third when the Redmen lined up to punt and the snap went over the punter's head and had to fall on it at their own 21.

With the short field, the Trojans (3-5, 3-2) capitalized in six plays, with Williams completing three passes and running twice on the drive. Williams won a foot race to the pylon on fourth-and-goal to finish off the drive.

The senior signal caller also ran in the conversion run to make it 28-21 nearly four minutes into the third.

"You could just feel a shift in the atmosphere with that first series for the defense. It's always helpful when a snap goes over their head. But our offense capitalized which was good and it was good to see focus and not give up."

The Redmen (1-7, 0-7) couldn't seem to find the rhythm they had in the first half and went three-and-out again and Portsmouth took advantage with another big play to score again.

A couple of big runs from both the Poxes and a pair of completions from Williams set the Trojans up at the Rock Hill 23.

On the ensuing play, Williams made a play fake but was flushed out of the pocket and rolled to his right. Williams let a pass fly down the near sideline towards Steven Whitt. However, Whitt was met with a crushing hit from Cash Lyons that deflected the ball, but it went into the hands of Berry and the sophomore walked in for a 23-yard score.

Portsmouth added a two-point conversion when Williams threw a pass to Da'Monie Wood to make it 36-21.

Rock Hill would claw back but not without a bump in the road along the way.

Before the drive could get going, a middle screen pass from Bridges was intercepted by Nick Donley, but before Donley would go down, the ball was knocked out and recovered by Chris Wilson.

The Redmen made good on the second chance.

First, getting a barreling run for 24 yards from Davidson. Then Bridges lofted a pass out to Lyons along the home sideline, and Lyons was able to get the toe-tap at the 3-yard line.

Two plays later, Bridges nosed his way in from two-yards out to cut the deficit to 36-28 with 11:12 remaining in the game.

Portsmouth would answer with a clutch drive that melted just over six minutes off the clock and ended with a score.

The 13-play drive saw either Williams or Poxes carry the ball, and also see Williams roll out and hit Berry with a pinpoint pass for 25 yards.

Nick Poxes would carry the ball the final two plays of the drive, with his final one being a 5-yard burst to give the Trojans a 43-28 lead with just under five minutes remaining.

The Redmen mounted one final drive, scoring with 22 seconds remaining when Bridges hit Ryan Kellogg for the touchdown.

Portsmouth recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to finish off the win.

The Redmen offense was headlined by Davidson with 86 yards rushing to go along with his two scores. Colton Lewis had 75 yards on 14 carries and Bridges had 60 rushing yards.

Bridges finished 9 of 17 for 136 yards through the air. His top target on the night was Russell with 3 receptions for 72 yards.

Rock Hill returns home next Friday to face Chesapeake while the Trojans will be on the road at South Point.

Rock Hill 14    7    0    14  =  35

Portsmouth 14    6    16      7  =  43

First Quarter

RH — Kelan Davidson 14 run (Cameron Howard kick), 8:17.

Prt — Mekhi Berry 45 pass from Camron Williams (Eli Roth kick), 6:50.

RH — Kelan Davidson 1 run (Cameron Howard kick), 4:04.

Prt — Fernando Poxes 18 run (Eli Roth kick), 1:08.

Second Quarter

Prt — Camron Willams 3 run (kick blocked), 10:46.

RH — Rhenin Russell 49 from Jarrod Bridges (Cameron Howard kick), 9:55.

Third Quarter

Prt — Camron Willams 3 run (Williams run), 8:10.

Prt — Mekhi Berry 23 pass from Camron Williams (Williams pass to Da'Monie Wood), 4:14.

Fourth Quarter

RH — Jarrod Bridges 2 run (Cameron Howard kick), 11:12.

Prt — Nick Poxes 5 run (Eli Roth kick), 4:51.

RH — Ryan Kellogg Jarrod Bridges (Cameron Howard kick), 0:22.

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            RH Prt

First downs  18   18

Rushes-yards 40-206 33-164

Passing yards  136 299

Total yards   342 463

Cmp-Att-Int 9-17-2 21-26-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 7-48 9-60

Punts-average 1-39.0 2-31.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Rock Hill: Cash Lyons 1-minus 3, Colton Lewis 14-75, Jarrod Bridges 9-60 TD, Bridger Kerns 2-12, Kelan Davidson 13-86 2-TD, Team 1-minus 24; Portsmouth: Camron Williams 8-62 TD, Fernando Poxes 16-73 TD, Nick Poxes 5-31 TD, Da'Monie Wood 2-minus 1, Logan Thurman 1-2, Team 1-minus 3.

PASSING —Rock Hill: Jarrod Bridges 9-17-2 136 2-TD; Portsmouth: Camron Williams 21-26-0 290 2-TD.

RECEIVING — Rock Hill: Carter Bailey 2-22, Cash Lyons 3-39, Rhenin Russell 3-72 TD, Ryan Kellogg 1-3 TD; Portsmouth: Mekhi Berry 7-165 2-TD, Fernando Poxes 8-36, Nick Poxes 3-38, Trey Pendleton 3-60.