South Portland 7
Windham 6
The South Portland football team survived several Windham scoring chances to hold on for a 7-6 win Friday night. The Red Riots’ lone touchdown came on a two-yard run by David Hardison in the second quarter. From there, the defense took over to seal the Riots’ second win of the year.
“We’re building the program around the defensive side of the ball,” said South Portland coach Steve Stinson. “We have some pretty good athletes over there. We’re on the verge of being a good offensive team. We aren’t there yet but we’re working on finishing drives and limiting mistakes and let our defense carry us. It’s a very gritty group. The defense is playing good, it feels like a warm blanket.”
Things began quietly as both the Riots and Eagles looked for opportunities. On their second possession of the game, South Portland moved all the way to Windham’s 18 before giving up the ball. But, on the very next play, Nick Gaddar grabbed an interception to give the Riots another chance.
Midway through the second quarter, the Riots took over at their own 47-yard line. Hardison found Jamie Boudreau for a 13-yard strike to move across midfield. South Portland moved down to the 15-yard line and on third down, a controversial pass interference call gave the Riots new life at the seven.
Three plays later, it was fourth-and-goal on the two. Hardison took the snap and faked a hand off to Ryan Curit. Hardison rolled left and scampered into the end zone for a 6-0 South Portland lead. Matt Hebert connected on his only extra point try of the night and it was 7-0 Riots.
“We shouldn’t have let them down there,” said Windham coach Matt Perkins. “And we didn’t hold them on the goal line when we should have. They played well, they played hard and they got after it. We had too many mental mistake and we let them hang around. We can’t have mental mistakes and let a team hang around they’ll beat you. South Portland is a group of fighters; they play hard.”
Windham answered right back. On the ensuing kickoff, Travis Guerrette caught the ball at the eight-yard line and rumbled 92 yards for the touchdown. The Eagles elected to try for a two-point conversion that would give them the lead. The bid failed and the Riots were left with a one-point edge.
Coming back after halftime, the Riots would have to once again kick off. Stinson says he was a bit nervous about the thought of another long return.
“It felt like 0-0 at halftime,” he said. “We thought kicking and covering would be an issue and playing defense. We needed to limit them. We wanted to finish in the second half we wanted to land the right cross so to speak.”
Both team defenses stayed strong in the second half as both teams traded three-and-out drives. Toward the end of the third quarter, the Eagles moved the ball deeper into South Portland territory. But on fourth down from the South Portland 15, they came up short.
The Eagles got one more chance with under four minutes left in the game. They methodically moved down the field and into South Portland’s red zone. But they could only get as close as the 18. On fourth-and-15, Sam Harmon intercepted Jackson Taylor’s pass to end the threat and the game.
“The Bonny Eagle experience we used as a chance to get better,” Stinson said of his team’s loss last week. “We didn’t feel good coming off the field but we used that to practice. We had our best week of prep this week.”
The loss drops the Eagles to 1-3 on the year. They will take on Kennebunk Friday night.
“We need to regroup and reload,” said Perkins. “It’s gut-check time. That’s the thing about this sport we get another chance next week.”
South Portland improves to 2-2 on the year and will make the trek to Waterhouse Field to take on Biddeford Friday night.
“They have come a long way from the first day when we had 26 kids,” Stinson said. “Now at the end of September, to be 2-2 is great, but that’s as retrospective as I can get right now because we’re going to Waterhouse next week.”
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