Trojans hold off Dragons 4th quarter comeback
- Staff
- Oct 5
- 4 min read
PROCTORVILLE — It was one heck of a comeback, but it was just not enough.
With the offense struggling and trailing by 28 points early in the fourth quarter, the Fairland defense sparked a furious comeback with some help on the defensive side of the ball.
But the comeback fizzled out behind a huge game from Portsmouth running back Fernando Poxes and the Trojans survived with a 48-26 win over the Dragons in an Ohio Valley Conference clash on Friday night.
"I'm proud of the kids for not giving up. We were worried coming into the game about their offensive line and being able to impose their will against us," said Fairland coach Mike Jackson. "I'm just super proud of the kids for not quitting."
The Trojans (4-3, 2-2 OVC) running game compiled 327 yards on the ground, with Poxes doing the most damage on 29 carries for 229 yards and 4 scores on the ground. Poxes also had 2 receptions for 72 yards, including a 69-yard pop pass from Marquez Locklear in the first quarter to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead.
The comeback attempt began right after Poxes scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to put the Trojans up 34-6 with 9:17 remaining.
Aiden Trimble returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards out to near midfield. Burcham completed consecutive passes to Kylan Blake to move into Trojan territory. Then a targeting penalty on Portsmouth moved the ball just outside the red zone.
Five plays later, Christian Bompus scored from one yard out. Burcham scrambled around until Connor Black came open and hit his wide receiver for the conversion.
The Dragon defense came up with the next score on Portsmouth's ensuing possession.
On a first down play at midfield, Davin Murray was able to strip the ball from the runner and return the ball 50 yards for the score and cut the deficit to 34-20.
Again the defense forced another fumble on Portsmouth's following possession.
This time Wyatt Callicoat knocked the ball loose, and Orion Tolbert was there to scoop the ball up and run it back to the Portsmouth 7.
Burcham scored on the very next play from scrimmage after keeping the ball on a read option and making one defender miss to cut the deficit even further. Burcham's two-point conversion pass was batted away at the last second by Brooks to keep the score at 34-26 with 3:12 remaining.
On the onside kick attempt, the Dragons tried a pooch kick just over the second line of the Portsmouth return team, but the ball carried a little too far and the ball bounced out of bounds.
"I really thought if we can get that onside, we'd go down and score again. But, the ball kind of carried and didn't get the bounce we wanted."
But the momentum of the game was still tilted in Fairland's favor.
However, that momentum lasted until the very next play from scrimmage, as Poxes took a handoff and cut right through the defense with a 65-yard touchdown run to give the Trojans a 41-26 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining.
Poxes added one more touchdown run following a defensive stop and cap off the scoring.
In the first half, the Dragons (3-4, 2-2) couldn't gain their footing throughout the first frame, as 3 of their first 5 drives resulted in punts.
Their third drive got off to a good start after Kinyon Smith returned the kickoff 54 yards to the Portsmouth 29.
The Dragons managed to get as far as the Trojan 7, but couldn't finish the drive. On 4th-and-5, Owen Burcham tried to hit Blake on a rollout, but the pass was broken up just shy of the goal line to give the ball back to Portsmouth.
The Dragons finally found the end zone in the latter stages of the second quarter when Davin Murray rumbled in from 5 yards out to make the score 14-6 in favor of the Trojans.
Burcham finished the game as the top rusher for the Dragons with 77 yards, including a 53-yard scamper in the second quarter that set up Murray's touchdown.
Fairland hits the road for the final three weeks of the season, beginning with Ironton on Friday. Portsmouth travels to Rock Hill for an important OVC showdown.
Portsmouth 6 8 14 20 = 48
Fairland 0 6 0 20 = 26
First Quarter
Pts — Fernando Poxes 69 pass from Marquez Locklear (kick no good), 3:44.
Second Quarter
Pts — Trevin Brooks 3 run (Fernando Poxes run), 7:02.
Fa — Davin Murray 5 run (kick blocked), 4:08.
Third Quarter
Pts — Fernando Poxes 17 run (Jacob Roth kick), 9:30.
Pts — Jermarkus Parker 6 run (Jacob Roth kick), 2:52.
Fourth Quarter
Pts — Fernando Poxes 17 run (run failed), 9:17.
Fa — Christian Bompus 1 run (Owen Burcham pass to Connor Black), 7:06.
Fa — Davin Murray 50 fumble return (kick blocked), 5:29.
Fa — Owen Burcham 7 run (pass failed), 3:12.
Pts — Fernando Poxes 65 run (Jacob Roth kick), 3:01.
Pts — Fernando Poxes 23 run (Jacob Roth kick), 2:12.
———
Pts Fa
First downs 20 6
Rushes-yards 50-327 29-138
Passing yards 107 36
Total yards 302 174
Cmp-Att-Int 5-8-0 7-19-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-78.5 3-25
Punts-average 2-44.0 5-29.2
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING – Portsmouth: Jemarkus Parker 3-58 TD, Trevin Brooks 4-5 TD, Camron Williams 1-minus 1, Marquez Locklear 13-36, Fernando Poxes 29-229 4-TD; Fairland: Christian Bompus 10-25 TD, Davin Murray 12-36 TD, Owen Burcham 7-77 TD.
PASSING – Portsmouth: Marquez Locklear 5-8-0 107 TD; Fairland: Owen Burcham 6-18-1 25, Davin Murray 1-1-0 11.
RECEIVING – Portsmouth: Trevin Brooks 2-32, Camron Williams 1-3, Fernando Poxes 2-72 TD ; Fairland: Kinyon Smith 1-0, Ford Rickard 1-11, Kylan Blake 3-18, Davin Murray 2-7.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
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