Dragons bounce back to get past Trojans in shootout

PORTSMOUTH — The main plot was the Fairland Dragons vs. the Portsmouth Trojans.

However, the subplot turned out to be Fairland running back Christian Bompus vs. Portsmouth quarterback Camron Williams.

Bompus had 273 yards of total offense and scored 3 touchdowns to lead the Dragons 45-33 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Trojans despite Williams’ 389 yards of total offense.

Bompus ran 16 times for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught 4 passes for 120 yards and a score.

Williams ran 18 times for 146 yards and was 14 of 31 passing for 243 yards and 5 touchdowns with a pair of interceptions.

Fairland (5-2, 3-1) finished with 466 total yards while Portsmouth (2-5, 2-2) had 459 total yards of offense.

Fairland’s Kylan Blake had a solid game with 14 carries for 68 yards and 2 TDs while catching 5 passes for 59 yards. Quarterback Kinyon Smith was 12 of 18 for 231 yards and a touchdown.

Portsmouth wide receiver Mekhi Berry celebrated his birthday by catching 6 passes for 165 yards and 4 touchdowns. Fernando Poxes caught 5 passes for 61 yards and a TD with running back Jemarkus Parker getting 62 yards on 18 carries.

On the first series of the game, Fairland gambled on fourth down at the Trojans 43 but came up short.

Portsmouth then used 9 plays including a 16-yard scoring pass to Poxes to cap the drive. Eli Roth kicked the conversion for a 7-0 lead at the 6:42 mark.

Fairland got the ball late in the first quarter at its own 38. A 15-yard pass to Bompus and a 12-yard completion to Blake got the ball to the Trojans 38 and set up a 38-yard scoring strike to Ford Rickard and it was 7-6.

Following a Portsmouth punt, Fairland had the ball at its 39. Xander Collins ran for 4 yards and then Smith and Bompus teamed up on a 57-yard pass play for the touchdown.

Conner Kazee kicked the extra point and the Dragons led 13-7.

Portsmouth put together a time-consuming 14-play drive covering 65 yards with Williams hitting Berry for the final 9 yards. The conversion kick was blocked and it was 13-all.

But it took Fairland all of 2 plays to regain the lead. After a one-yard pass to Blake, Bompus broke several tackles and went 64 yards for the score. Kazee’s kick made it 20-13 at the break.

The Dragons extended the lead to 26-13 on their first possession of the second half thanks to a shanked 5-yard punt that gave them the ball at the Trojans 46.

Blake had a 24-yard run to the 7 and 5 plays later Smith and Rickard clicked on a 6-yard scoring pass and it was 26-13.

The Trojans used only 3 plays to score after the kickoff and Berry got behind the defense on a 62-yard pass play for a touchdown and it was 26-19.

A 25-yard run by Williams got the ball to the 5-yard line and 2 plays later Williams hit Berry on a 4-yard scoring strike and it was 26-25.

A 2-yard scoring run by Blake on the first play of the fourth quarter made it 33-25.

An interception by Kazee gave the ball back to Fairland at its own 30. A 52-yard pass play from Smith to Bompus got the ball to the 6-yard line where Blake scored and it was 39-25 with 4:30 to play.

Portsmouth was pinned back at its own 2-yard line and had to go 98 yards. The Trojans used 14 plays and the drive ended on a 61-yard pass and catch by Berry for the touchdown.

Twice in the drive Williams ran for the first down on a fourth down play and he completed a 10-yard pass to Da’Monie Wood on a third down to set up the pass to Berry that made it 39-33.

But Fairland recovered the onside kick-off at the Portsmouth 48 and Bompus ran 7 yards and then broke free for the final 41 yards and it was 45-33.

Fairland 6 14      6 19  =  45

Portsmouth 7      6    12      8 =   33

First Quarter

Prt — Fernando Poxes 16 pass from Camron Williams (Eli Roth kick)

Fa — Ford Rickard 38 pass from Kinyon Smith (kick blocked)

Second Quarter

Fa — Christian Bompus 57 pass from Kinyon Smith (Conner Kazee kick)

Prt — Mekhi Berry 9 pass from Camron Smith (kick blocked)

Fa — Christian Bompus 64 run (Conner Kazee kick)

Third Quarter

Fa — Ford Rickard 6 pass from Kinyon Smith (kick blocked)

Prt — Mekhi Berry 62 pass from Camron Williams (pass failed)

Prt — Mekhi Berry 4 pass from Camron Williams (pass failed)

Fourth Quarter

Fa — Kylan Blake 2 run (Conner Kazee kick)

Fa — Kylan Blake 6 run (kick blocked)

Prt — Mekhi Berry 61 pass from Camron Williams (Camron Williams run)

Fa — Christian Bompas 41 run (kick failed)

———————

         Fa      Prt

First downs  16      20

Rushes-yards   37-235 40-216

Passing yards  231    243

Total yards   466    459

Cmp-Att-Int 14-18-1 14-31-2

Fumbles-lost 0-0    5-2

Penalties-yards 7-75   14-116

Punts-average 1-30.0 3-24.7

———————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Fairland: Christian Bompus 16-153 2-TD, Kylan Blake 14-68 2-TD, Xander Collins 4-17, Kinyon Smith 2-1, Team 1-minus 4; Portsmouth: Camron Williams 18-146, Jemarkus Parker 18-62, Fernando Poxes 3-4, Da’Monie Wood 1-4.

PASSING — Fairland: Kinyon Smith 12-18-1 231 3-TD; Portsmouth: Camron Williams 14-31-2 243 5-TD.

RECEIVING — Fairland: Christian Bompus 4-120 TD, Ford Rickard 2-44 2-TD, Kylan Blake 5-59, Conner Kazee 1-8; Portsmouth: Mekhi Berry 6-165 4-TD, Fernando Poxes 5-61 TD, Da’Monie Wood 1-10, Trey Pendleton 1-5, Jemarkus Parker 1-5.