Published: November 01, 2008 12:32 am      

Portage advances past Claysburg in D6 playoffs

PORTAGE — Portage and Claysburg-Kimmel were locked in a dog fight for the first quarter of their District 6 Class A football playoff game on Friday night.

But once the Mustangs found the keys to the kennel, they muzzled the Bulldogs 44-12.

“We were a little lackadaisical. We took them a little bit lightly for a while,” Portage coach Gary Gouse said. “But then we came back and played the way we were supposed to. I like how we ended.”

Portage moves on to next week’s second-round game opposite today’s Blairsville-Mount Union winner.

Special teams were a major part of Portage’s success, with the Mustangs scoring on a kickoff return and a punt return.

“Special teams were outstanding (Friday),” Gouse said. “The punt return and kickoff return were big sparks for us, and I don’t think the offense was even on the field very much for us in the first half. When you have a good football team, you make big plays.”

Claysburg took the opening kickoff and marched 71 yards to the 9, led by tailback Daniel Knott, who carried on six of seven plays. But a penalty and the tightening of the Mustangs defense left the Bulldogs at the 22, and they turned the ball over on downs.

Knott finished the first quarter with 104 yards on 11 carries, but ended the game with 25 carries for 126 yards.

“Give Claysburg a lot of credit, they came out and punched us right in the nose,” Gouse said. “We had to make some adjustments, and their offense beat us off the ball for a while. When you have never played a team, you have to make adjustments. Our kids finally realized that we were in a football game.”

The Mustangs turned around and marched 78 yards, with Tommy Burgan scoring from the 34 to get Portage on the board.

Trenton Layo kicked the first of five extra points for a 7-0 lead at the 2:51 mark.

Claysburg responded with a 10-play drive of its own, with Knott scoring from the 4. The kick failed, and the Bulldogs trailed by just a point at 10:22 of the second quarter.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Mike Sinosky took the ball at the 16 and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown. Layo’s kick increased the Portage lead to 14-6.

The Bulldogs’ next series came to a halt on an interception by Ryan Scoran, who took the ball to the Claysburg 42.

Three plays later, Sinosky burst through the center and dashed 38 yards for the Portage touchdown and Layo kick for a 21-6 advantage.

Claysburg’s next drive went three-and-a-punt, which was taken by Scoran at the 48 and returned for another Portage touchdown with 4:42 on the clock.

Layo kicked a 29-yard field goal to set the halftime score at 30-6.

The Mustangs had six first downs in the first half while Claysburg had 10.

Portage took the second-half kickoff and marched 68 yards on four plays, capped by a double reverse from quarterback Taylor Swires to Burgan to Zach Cronauer, who raced to the 37-yard touchdown.

A similar play from Swires to Cronauer to Todd Hershberger resulted in a 32-yard touchdown for the Mustangs, who threw just one pass in the second half.

Claysburg added a late score, a 45-yard pass from Michael Blair to Jordan Bradley, to set the final.

“Those returns, the big plays for them really killed us,” Claysburg coach Joe Kitt said. “The interception set them up for another score. You can’t do that with a good football team. Portage is a great team with good running backs, and you can’t give them a short field.”

Sinosky finished with 148 yards on 16 carries while Burgan had 11 carries for 87 yards.

Jared Pisarchik did not play because of an injury.