Published: October 05, 2008 12:05 am            

Portage pounds Ferndale

When 0-5 takes on 5-0 things have to go pretty well for the former to beat the latter. Things did not go well for still winless Ferndale, which played host to still unbeaten Portage on Saturday.

The Mustangs used a size and numbers advantage in soundly beating a very young Yellow Jackets squad 69-0.

The Jackets inflicted a few of their own wounds early on with a fumble, a broken play and a dropped pass on their first two possessions. Portage ended up starting its first two drives from inside the Ferndale 30-yard line and managed to turn both into touchdowns.

“That is exactly it,” Ferndale coach Joe Arcurio said. “When you are playing a team as good as this Portage squad, you cannot make unforced mistakes on top of the good plays they are going to make against you. We dug an early hole and even though these guys never quit, we could never get out of that hole.”

Mike Sinosky scored the first of his three touchdowns at the 9:53 mark of the first quarter.

The 26-yard drive took four plays, two of them going for first downs. Portage coach Gary Gouse says he never takes anything for granted, but felt pretty good when his team got its first turn with the ball so deep in opposing territory.

“We think we have some pretty good athletes, and our line does a great job. You give us that sort of short field and, yeah, we expect to make it happen right away,” Gouse said. “Ferndale worked hard, I’ll give them that, but we just had it going our way, and all our kids showed up to play.”

When Gouse says “all his kids,” it was literal. Every player on his 63-man roster saw action, with 14 of them getting touches.

None was more effective or devastating than running back Tommy Burgan, who turned in 126 yards rushing on just six carries.

Burgan also had three scores, including an 88-yard scamper, a play after Ferndale had been stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the Portage 12. Ferndale managed that deep of a penetration thanks to an 83-yard kickoff return by Ryan Gaunt, who was tackled at the Mustangs 7.

The first half numbers reflected the 53-0 mark at the break pretty accurately, with Portage having racked up 238 yards to Ferndale’s 10. Gouse and Arcurio sang the praises of a Portage defense that saw the Jackets run off 29 first-half plays with only seven going for positive yardage.

“We have a good defense, we know that, and no matter what the game situation, they take every snap seriously and I think you saw that,” Gouse said.

        

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