Portsmouth senior running back Chase Heiland (2) had both of the Trojans’ touchdowns and 116 rushing yards on 30 carries in the Trojans’ 15-12 non-league season-opening football victory over Valley.

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

LUCASVILLE — Portsmouth High head football coach Bruce Kalb commented that he indeed aged during the Trojans’ season opener against the Valley Indians on Thursday night.

“This game probably took years off my life,” joked the seventh-year PHS mentor.

Kalb’s life span may have been shortened in a matter of two-and-a-half hours, but the Trojans’ triumph extended over the Indians their week one streak to now eight.

That’s because — bolstered by a 15-3 lead following three quarters, a defense that stymied the run-oriented Indians to only 45 rushing yards and senior running back Chase Heiland having another normal rushing night at the office —Portsmouth prevailed 15-12 in the annual non-league opener on Valley’s Reservation.

The Trojans and Indians open every football season on a Thursday night —and have done so since 2012, sans the coronavirus-impacted campaign of 2020.

Valley won the first four meetings before Portsmouth, in winning the last seven before Thursday, pinballed at least 32 points against the Indians —including 59 last year inside Trojan Coliseum.

During that seven-game streak, the Trojans outscored Valley 292-146, but Thursday night’s defensive gem was easily the lowest scoring contest of the past dozen encounters.

And, the Trojans needed every one of those 15 points.

With Portsmouth clinging to a 15-10 lead, and with the football but backed up in their own territory, the Trojans took a safety intentionally — with a minute and 36 seconds remaining.

Kalb considered the decision a safe move at the time, but Valley senior Aidan Waughtel nearly made them pay —returning the free kick from the 20-yard line all the way to the Trojans’ 15 with a 48-yard return.

Valley now needed a Jaylen Bender field goal for an improbable tie, and a touchdown for a more unbelievable — and almost inconceivable — come-from-behind victory.

But the Indians’ final of a handful of false start penalties pushed them from the 13 to the 18, and 11 yards worth of rushing losses on the next two plays put Bender in a bind —in the form of a 46-yard field goal attempt.

With no time left, Bender’s boot was low, left and duck-hooking — as Portsmouth perhaps lived rather dangerously in escaping The Reservation, and upped its streak to eight over the determined Indians.

“This was probably one of the hardest 1-0s we’ve started the season with. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Valley is definitely one of the most, if not the most, improved team in this area from last year. Nolan (Crabtree) is doing a heckuva job. It was a tough hard-fought battle,” said a relieved Kalb. “I had a suspicion after halftime that this was going to come down to the wire and it sure did. We had to make it very interesting at the end.”

It was actually interesting all game, as the Trojans trailed nary.

In the third quarter, the two teams traded three-and-outs twice —with Portsmouth punting twice, Valley once, and Colin Perry picking off Waughtel for an interception that served as a de facto punt.

The Trojans took their largest lead with three seconds showing in the third, as Heiland —the first-team all-Southeast District Division V running back last season —hit paydirt for his second touchdown, this one a 17-yard jaunt that made it 15-3 with Malachi Loper’s extra-point kick.

More on those Portsmouth PATs momentarily, too.

Heiland’s second score capped a nine-play, 83-yard, three-and-a-half minute drive —as he followed up last season’s 258-yard, three-touchdown and 25-carry contest against Valley with 116 yards, two TDs and 30 rushes this time.

Portsmouth senior running back Chase Heiland (2) and junior lineman Wesley Runyon (69)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Behind an experienced offensive line, Portsmouth pushed for 189 rushing yards on 43 tries on Thursday —as Alex McKenzie covered 37 yards on three second-half fullback traps, and quarterback J.T. Williams chipped in 29 yards on nine totes.

Portsmouth senior quarterback J.T. Williams (13)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

“Chase (Heiland) would be the first one to tell you that a lot of his success he owes to those big fat guys up front. Those guys put in the work. Then we had big plays by Alex McKenzie running that fullback trap,” said Kalb. “A lot people probably thought it was 1995 seeing the fullback run the ball again. But that’s who we are in Portsmouth. It’s deep in our roots.”

Portsmouth piled up 406 rushing yards on 54 attempts in last season’s 30-point (59-29) pushover —which featured the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule for the final five minutes.

This one, though, went all the way to the gun —because the Indians almost owned the final eight minutes and 52 seconds.

As the Trojans crossed midfield for the start of the fourth quarter, Valley tackled Williams short of a first down at their 44-yard line.

Waughtel was instrumental in the Indians’ touchdown drive —running three straight times for 10 yards, and bookending completions to Braxten Conaway for 16 and Nick Queen for 18.

Valley senior quarterback Aidan Waughtel (9) and Portsmouth sophomore Fernando Poxes (20)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Anthony Aaron’s 11-yard run made it 15-9, and Bender kicked the extra point for the five-point difference with only 6:10 remaining.

On the first play following, the Indians hit Heiland and forced a fumble —recovering right at the PHS 44 just 13 seconds later.

Valley’s Nolan Barnett (center), Tyler Carver (left) and Zach Whitt (right) converge to tackle Portsmouth quarterback J.T. Williams (13).

Courtesy of Patrick Phillips of Glory Days Photography

Waughtel went to Conaway for 30 yards, setting up Valley inside the red zone with a good opportunity at the lead.

But it ended up facing 4th-down-and-13 at the 16 —and Waughtel was sacked for an apparent eight-yard loss.

However, the Trojans were whistled for a personal foul 15-yard face mask penalty —and the Indians initially had the football spotted for a first down inside the 10.

Although, that joy was short-lived, as the first down was not automatic after the penalty after all—meaning Valley faced 4th-down-and-5 at the 9.

Waughtel completed a pass to fellow senior Zach Whitt, but he was tackled after only a yard gain.

“We thought we had the first down on the penalty. Then we find out we don’t, so that was a little frustrating because after it (penalty) is marked off, we have a first-down play called,” said Valley third-year coach Nolan Crabtree. “It was just a weird situation, and hopefully we overcome that going forward.”

Still, the Trojans taking the safety four plays later gave Valley new life —and a new deficit to erase at 15-12.

Waughtel returned the kick to the 15, but the Indians’ 11th and final penalty short-circuited their short field for Bender’s field goal.

“I thought Aidan played well, made some plays and kept us in the game. He returns the kick after the safety to the 15, yet we go backwards. We had another false start, false starts and mental mistakes just killed us all night,” said Crabtree. “We lose 11 yards in the next two plays, so now we’re almost to the 30. So now Jaylen (Bender) has a long kick in a tough spot, and that miss is not on him We have to do a better job of setting him up and putting him in a situation where he has a much more makable kick.”

Of the Indians’ 11 penalties for 71 yards, all seven in the first half were of that frustrating five-yard chain-trailing variety.

The second half included two key holds on plays of positive yardage.

“I’m thrilled with our kids’ effort. They just battled to the end. It’s just so frustrating because you feel like you did a lot of things to hurt your chances tonight. The penalties were just self-inflicted wounds, just backbreaking to us. We put ourselves behind the sticks so many times. So many false starts, a couple of holds in the second half where we had positive plays. It’s just stuff you can’t do. It really hurt,” said Crabtree. “Then getting off the field on third down was an issue, especially early. Our defense played really well, and they gave us a chance.”

After Valley opened the game going three-and-out, the Trojans took an 8-0 advantage — with a 10-play, 54-yard and nearly seven-minute scoring drive in which they converted three third downs.

A Williams QB keeper call on 3rd-and-17 moved the ball from the Valley 40 to the 23 —as Heiland hit the outside on the next snap for his first touchdown run at the 3:37 first-quarter mark.

But the extra point proved pivotal —with the newcomer Loper later on.

Showing an unorthodox formation, last season’s quarterback and younger brother to this year’s —Camron Williams —found an open Trevin Brooks for the two-point conversion.

On that scoring drive, J.T. Williams hooked with Brooks —for 10 yards to convert 3rd-and-10.

The Trojans were missing some special teams personnel —making punting and placekicking becoming adventures.

Kalb said those two conversions for three total points proved to be a massive differencemaker.

“We weren’t as crisp as we should have been tonight on special teams, but we had some key moments. We had a punt formation where we drew them offsides with the shift, then there was that muddle-huddle two-point conversion that made a big difference,” he said. “If we don’t get those two extra points for three points, then they are playing for the win and not the tie.”

But the Trojans defense did its job well and got some serious stops —grounding the Indians to 80 fewer total yards.

Waughtel completed half of his 16 passes for 112 yards with two interceptions, but the likes of Trojan linemen McKenzie and Kingston Littlefield found him all night.

Waughtel officially had 13 carries for minus-19 yards, as Gabe McNeil muscled for 53 yards on 15 totes.

“Our defense really stepped up and saved our butts tonight. Kingston Littlefield and Alex McKenzie caused their quarterback a lot of fits from the defensive line. Then we have Dylan Sanderlin and Trevin Brooks in the middle,” said Kalb. “We were really worried about their running game, but I thought that was something that we were able to slow down and forced them into the pass.”

Portsmouth junior Kayleb Johnson (22) intercepts the ball over Valley sophomore Braxten Conaway (1) during Thursday night’s non-league season-opening football game at Valley High School.

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Trailing 8-0, the Indians answered with a 10-play and three-minute and 36-second scoring drive of their own —driving all the way to the one-yard line in fact, before back-to-back carries resulted in a loss of five.

Portsmouth linebacker Chase Heiland (2) hits Valley running back Gabe McNeil (33) to break up a pass.

Courtesy of Patrick Phillips of Glory Days Photography

Waughtel was incomplete on a pass attempt too, meaning Valley settled for a Bender 23-yard field goal —just six seconds into the second quarter.

The two teams then traded six-play possessions and punts, before Portsmouth moved a dozen plays in between the 20s — and in the final 3:20.

Whitt, though, intercepted J.T. Williams at the goal line —and returned the ball to the 30, with just 10 first-half seconds showing.

Valley senior Zach Whitt (8) intercepts a pass in front of Portsmouth sophomore Camron Williams (6) during Thursday night’s non-league season-opening football game at Valley High School.

Courtesy of Patrick Phillips of Glory Days Photography

Crabtree commended his Indians’ effort, as Valley’s numbers have jumped dramatically to 52 for the season —an estimated 20-player increase from each of his first two seasons.

In addition, only one senior starter graduated from last year’s team.

The coach believes if execution is improved, then these Indians are in for several competitive fourth-quarter contests.

One of those may be on Friday night (Aug. 30) —when Valley travels to another Ohio Valley Conference club, and encounters another run-oriented unit in Coal Grove.

“We’re a vastly improved team. This one hurts, because it’s a game you want to win and you want to get over that hump. I’m proud of our kids and the fight they displayed. We’re a better football team, and I feel like we’re going to play a lot of games like that this year. I look at our schedule, there’s probably seven or eight fourth-quarter games. We talked pregame about doing the little things, but we didn’t do them and that’s what got us beat. A lack of execution and penalties,” said Crabtree. “The only thing you can do is get back in here tomorrow and get to work for next week and try to get to 1-1.”

The Trojans, conversely, try to move to 2-0 —as they welcome West on Friday night for that annual week-two rivalry tilt.

Kalb said his senior-heavy squad has plenty of aisle cleanup ahead of it, but that is expected in the opening two weeks.

No doubt, Portsmouth played not its most aesthetically-pleasing game, but did just enough to keep its streak against the Indians intact.

“There are areas we have to get better in. We have to get better in areas as a staff, we have to get better in areas as a program as a whole. It’s week one, so you’re going to have those messups and hiccups. But that’s why you play the games. The goal is to get better between now and next week. We know after tonight we have A LOT to clean up. We can’t play week in and week out and have those type of self-inflicted mistakes,” said Kalb. “Week one is never pretty, but we can’t let mistakes, failures or adversity pull us back. We have to make sure we keep moving forward and keep pushing that boulder. Just inch by inch, get to where we need it to be. We ended up on top tonight, and I’m very proud of these Portsmouth Trojans for that.”

* * *

Portsmouth — 8 0 7 0— 15

Valley 0 3 0 9— 12

P — Chase Heiland, 23-yard run (Trevin Brooks pass from Camron Williams), 3:37, 1st (8-0 P)

V — Jaylen Bender, 23-yard field goal, 11:54, 2nd (8-3 P)

P — Chase Heiland, 17-yard run (Malachi Loper kick), :03, 3rd (15-3 P)

V — Anthony Aaron, 11-yard run (Jaylen Bender kick), 6:10, 4th (15-10 P)

V — Safety, intentional quarterback sack in end zone, 1:36, 4th (15-12 P)

Team Statistics

P V

First downs 14 9

Scrimmage plays 52 45

Rushes-yards 43-189 29-45

Passing yards 48 112

Total yards 237 157

Cmp-Att-Int. 5-9-1 8-16-2

Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 9-64 11-71

Punts-Ave. 3-33.3 3-33.7

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Portsmouth: Chase Heiland 30-116 2TD, J.T. Williams 9-29, Alex McKenzie 3-37, Fernando Poxes 1-7; Valley: Gabe McNeil 15-53, Aidan Waughtel 13-(-19), Anthony Aaron 1-11 TD

PASSING — Portsmouth: J.T. Williams 5-9-1-48; Valley: Aidan Waughtel 8-16-2-112

RECEIVING—Portsmouth:Camron Williams 2-16, Chase Heiland 1-16, Trevin Brooks 1-10, Lukas Bradley 1-6; Valley: Braxten Conaway 3-65, Zach Whitt 2-28, Nick Queen 1-18, Gabe McNeil 1-3, Lex Logan 1-(-2)

Reach Paul Boggs by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved