Portagers top Eagles to snap 2-game skid

By DYLAN SAVELA, Manistee News Advocate Sports Writer -- Published: Saturday, September 26, 2009 12:22 AM

ONEKAMA — A losing streak was going to snap after Friday’s game between Onekama and Marion, as the Eagles marched onto the Portagers’ field thirsty for the season’s first win.

Onekama (3-2, 2-1 MSACN) was a little less removed from its last victory, but nonetheless wanted to get rid the taste of two straight losses — they did — topping the still-winless Eagles (0-5) 26-13.

“A win is a good thing, and we needed one after going two weeks without one,” Portagers coach Jim Hunter said. “You don’t want that to be a habit.”

Even with the win, the Portagers made some atypical mistakes Hunter hopes won’t become habits either.

“The wheels could have come off,” he said. “We did a lot of self-damaging stuff tonight -- like penalties, a costly fumble, missing blocks, lining up in the neutral zone — I’ve been around a long time and some nights there’s no rhyme or reason, but it seems like every little thing that can go wrong does, but what really matters is how your team responds to it.” And the Portagers did.

Onekama sophomore running back Tyler Fogarty led the scoring attack with 154 rushing yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns while senior Jake Matthews racked up 107 yards on 19 carries with one trip to the end zone along with 83 yards on two kick returns.

Quarterback Dan Gillespie ran for 39 yards on 10 carries along with going 1-for-7 passing with four yards and scoring on a two-point conversion.

“We never quit battling,” Hunter said. “They’re throwing 10 guys in the box and blitzing everybody and telling our backs ‘you’ve got to hang on to it’ and not only are they hanging on to it but they’re pounding it into the end zone.”

The Portagers opened the game with a scoring drive capped by Fogarty’s first of three trips to the end zone at 11:16 in the first.

Onekama's Jake Matthews (20) fights for yards against Marion on Friday night. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

After Gillespie punched it in for two, the Eagles answered back on their first drive, making it an 8-6 Onekama advantage.

Matthews lit up the scoreboard for the Portagers at 3:33 left in the opening quarter after breaking for a 45-yard touchdown run.

And after an interception by the Portagers’ Adrian Norman in Eagle territory, Fogarty struck again with a 15-yard dash to the end zone at 6:54 left in the half.

With time winding down, the Portagers had the opportunity to cushion their lead more, but a 13-play drive fizzled as Marion recovered an Onekama fumble on the Eagles’ 1-yard line with 25 seconds left in the second quarter — leaving the halftime score at 20-6.

“It is emotionally hard to get the kids back up when the offense drives all the way down and they don’t score,” Hunter said. “Yeah we could have put a couple more scores in, and had some breathing room, and that would have been nice, but we made it a lot harder on ourselves than we needed to, but the fact is we stayed and got the job done. And, I’m really proud of them for that.”

The Eagles scored again at 1:39 left in the third quarter on a quarterback keeper by Marion senior Christopher McCrimmon, putting them within striking distance at 20-13.

“We haven’t been in position to win yet all year,” said Marion coach Kurt Gillespie. “We’ve had the running clock in the second half so far (this season), so for us, it’s a positive thing to actually get ourselves in a situation where we have a chance to win.”

But the Onekama defense spoiled that chance.

“Defensively, hats off to coach (John) Neph and the job he did with those guys,” Hunter said of the Portager defense that allowed only 126 yards of total offense. “A lot of times the other team will pop a big play, and tie the ball game or worse. I think tonight, if we gave game balls away, we’d have to give one to the whole defense. They did a heck of a job.”

The Onekama defense was led by Fogarty with 14 tackles, while Kevin O’Connor had 12 including five for losses, Jared Miller had seven including two for losses, and Joe Kosiboski added four tackles for losses.

“The fact that the kids battled back was nice to see. I’m very proud of them,” Hunter said. “When a team keeps battling, everything else works its way out. If you go out there and play your hearts out, you don’t give up, you don’t let up, you don’t quit, the scoreboard will take care of itself. And tonight we were the better team.”