Portsmouth senior running back Alex McKenzie (40)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

LLOYD, Ky. — Greenup County sophomore wide receiver Jasper Davis caught a whiff of momentum on Saturday afternoon at ‘The Farm’.

Facing a potential tied game going into halftime versus renewed rival Portsmouth (2-1), GC senior quarterback Tyson Sammons connected with Davis for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining in the first half.

A successful two-point conversion by the Musketeers (3-0) gave them a 22-14 halftime lead over the Trojans – one which they wouldn’t look back from in winning 37-26.

And Davis’ day was only just beginning.

Sammons and Davis continued to be in sync in the second half, with Davis adding two more touchdowns to his total for a hat trick — on this matinee Saturday afternoon edition of the Ohio River Shootout.

“That was big time,” GC coach Travis Jones said afterwards. “We knew Tyson (Sammons) was absolutely gassed, thinking about taking our foot off the pedal. Ran one play and got pass interference, so we said let’s take a shot. Saw a look we liked versus cover three, Tyson evaded an unblocked defender and found Jasper Davis. Three touchdowns today for Jasper — really proud of him.”

Portsmouth junior Leeland Scurlock (12) tackles Greenup County quarterback Tyson Sammons (2).

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Greenup and Portsmouth played just six minutes and nine seconds of game time on Friday night, before inclement weather in the area caused their week-three game to be pushed until Saturday afternoon.

Both Jones and Portsmouth head coach Bruce Kalb saw this as an opportunity to see how focused their teams would be given the circumstances.

“We knew we’d have about 12 hours before we had roll call, got back on the bus and came up here,” Kalb said. “Told them that the next 12 hours determine what kind of season we would have. Very proud of the kids, they showed up focused. We were in for a battle, and it was a battle. This is a tough team and Sammons is a heck of a quarterback with both his arms and his legs. He made us pay at times.”

Portsmouth junior defensive back Kayleb Johnson (22)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

“We didn’t come out and play well last night when we started. Gave us an opportunity to reset and refocus, our kids came out and played pretty well all things considered,” Jones said. “We’re not used to an afternoon game on a Saturday, but proud of the way our guys responded.”

Portsmouth tallied most of their points via rushing scores by senior Chase Heiland, who totaled 138 yards and three touchdowns.

Portsmouth senior running back Chase Heiland (2) had 135 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in the Trojans’ 37-26 non-league loss at Greenup County on Saturday.

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Camron Williams threw a touchdown pass in the first quarter to Colin Perry to put the Trojans on the scoreboard first and ahead, 7-0.

Portsmouth sophomore wide receiver Camron Williams (6)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

After Heiland scored on a 37-yard run, but Portsmouth failed to convert the two-point try, the Trojans trailed Greenup 22-20 with 8:33 left in the third quarter.

However, Greenup would score its two second-half touchdowns on its next two drives, including one after a botched punt attempt gave the Musketeers a short field to work with.

GC led the Trojans by as many as 17 (37-20) following their final touchdown — with 11:26 left in the fourth quarter.

“We gave up some big plays and had some lost opportunities,” Kalb said. “Couple drives we were moving the ball, had some crucial errors at the wrong time. At the start thought we played really well. Spread it out, threw the ball all over the place. Once they adjusted, we moved back under center and ran the ball like I thought we could. Saw good performances by our big guys up front and by Chase Heiland and Alex McKenzie in the backfield.”

“We emphasize special teams to our guys a lot,” Jones said. “It was a big turning point in the game, proud of the way we responded after that and glad we didn’t make any mistakes on special teams.”

Heiland was named Portsmouth’s MVP of the game — the second installment of the renewed rivalry between the former Ohio Kentucky Athletic Conference (OKAC) members.

Sammons earned the MVP nod for the Musketeers, tallying five touchdowns on the game (four passing, one rushing).

His 64-yard touchdown pass to senior Drew Boggs put the Musketeers in the scoring column at the start of the second quarter.

Portsmouth will open Ohio Valley Conference play this Friday night (Sept. 13), hosting Gallia Academy at Trojan Coliseum.

“Open up league play next week. We host Gallia, little different with the realignment in the conference. It’ll be a lot of work on us at the staff level,” Kalb said. “Turnaround the next couple of days to get us ready for business as usual.”

Greenup County will travel to East Carter in hopes of keeping its undefeated season alive.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. Offensively we’re taking what the defense gives us. Ran the ball a lot versus Russell because of a light box, threw it a lot versus Portsmouth cause they played a heavy box. We go into that East Carter game seeing how they want to play against us. They have a really good offense, they run that Wing T spread offense. It’ll be a good test for our defense trying to tackle a big, physical running back in Landen Yolk,” Jones said. “Need to have a really good week at practice, show up ready to play Friday at East.”

* * *

Portsmouth 7 7 6 6 — 26

Greenup County 0 22 7 8 — 37

P — Colin Perry, 8-yard pass from Camron Williams (Malachi Loper kick), :44, 1st (7-0 P)

G — Drew Boggs, 64-yard pass from Tyson Sammons (Tyson Sammons run); 11:59, 2nd (8-7 GC)

G — Tyson Sammons, 10-yard run (2-point PAT failed); 5:58, 2nd (14-7 GC)

P — Chase Heiland, 15-yard run (Malachi Loper kick); 1:26, 2nd (14-14 tie)

G — Jasper Davis, 64-yard pass from Tyson Sammons (Tyson Sammons run); :38, 2nd (22-14 GC)

P — Chase Heiland, 37-yard run (2-point PAT failed); 8:33, 3rd (22-20 GC)

G — Jasper Davis, 13-yard pass from Tyson Sammons (Carter Nunley PAT kick); 3:30, 3rd (29-20 GC)

G — Jasper Davis, 16-yard pass from Tyson Sammons (Tyson Sammons run); 11:26, 4th (37-20 GC)

P — Chase Heiland, 1-yard run (2-point PAT failed); 7:28, 4th (37-26 CG)

Team Statistics

P GC

First Downs 18 17

Scrimmage plays 58 45

Rushes-yards 36-195 28-161

Passing yards 122 235

Total yards 317 396

Cmp-Att-Int. 14-22-2 10-17-2

Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-65 6-67

Punts-Ave. 1-38 0-0

Time of Possession 26:30 21:30

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Portsmouth: Chase Heiland 20-135 3TD, J.T. Williams 12-60, Alex McKenzie 2-11, Team 2-(-14); Greenup County: Tyson Sammons 10-83 TD, Waylon Perkins 16-78, Team 2-0

PASSING —Portsmouth: J.T. Williams 13-21-2-114, Camron Williams 1-1-0-8 TD; Greenup County: Tyson Sammons 10-17-2-235 4TD

RECEIVING—Portsmouth: Camron Williams 5-34, Lukas Bradley 3-44, Trevin Brooks 1-14, Alex McKenzie 1-13, Landon Malone 1-10, Colin Perry 1-8 TD, Chase Heiland 2-(1-); Greenup County: Jasper Davis 6-128 3TD, Drew Boggs 4-107 TD