Cougars stage
comeback against Portagers
By JOHN
COUNTS Manistee News Advocate
Saturday, October
2, 2010
ONEKAMA — The game changed in a
minute.
The Onekama Portagers looked like they’d take a 24-8 lead into the
locker room at halftime.
But with 1:13 left in the half, the Big Rapids Crossroads Charter
Academy scored two touchdowns, evening the score of a game they’d go
on to win 38-26.
“It’s a tough loss,” said Onekama coach Jim Hunter. “Sometimes you
learn the hard way.” The first quarter was all Onekama (3-3).
Quarterback Adrian Norman and
freshman running back Logan Fogarty scored on a pair of rushing
touchdowns, bringing the score to 16-0 at the end of the quarter.
But CCA would come back big
in the second quarter, starting off with a touchdown pass from
quarterback Isaiah Simmons to Colby Conklin with 11:42 to go in the
quarter.
Norman answered with another touchdown on a quarterback keeper with
5:53 left in the half.
That’s all the time it took for Onekama to blow their 16-point
lead.
“ You see it all the time,” Hunter said. “One team kind of
downshifts and goes into cruise control. The next thing you know we
get a couple 15-yard penalties, then a great catch on their part on
a busted play. And then they score. Now, all of a sudden, they’re in
overdrive, and we’re stuck down in cruise control.”
If Crossroads (3-3) was a car in overdrive, it was their speedy
quarterback and defensive back Simmons who was at the wheel.
With 1:13 left to go in the half, he scampered to a touchdown on a
QB sneak. Not more than a minute later, Simmons picked off an
Onekama pass with :56 left to go.
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Simmons then connected with Pete
Mabry for a 34-yard pass for a touchdown.
“He’s the fastest kid we’ve seen to
date,” Hunter said regarding Simmons.
And just like that, the score was
tied 24-24 at the half.
“Our team grew up today,” said Crossroads coach Jeff Thorne. “The second
quarter changed tremendously the character of this team. I knew this was
going to be a dogfight.”
The ball changed hands several times due to fumbles in the scoreless
third quarter.
Crossroads’ passing game picked up again in the fourth quarter when
Simmons again connected with Conklin for a 42-yard touchdown. They faked
a field goal and successfully passed in a 2-point conversion. The score
was now 32-24.
Onekama had their chance to tie
it up with 6:32 left in the game. The play after getting the ball to
their own 25-yard line on a big carry, Logan Forgarty fumbled on the
4-yard line just as it looked like he was going to get into the
end-zone.
“I thought he ran very, very hard,” Hunter said about Fogarty. “That was
a heck of an effort.”
Crossroads recovered, but then gave Onekama yet another chance when they
were called for holding in their own end-zone, which amounts to a
safety.
But, despite the two points and possession of the ball, the Portagers
couldn’t capitalize.
With 4:17 left to go, they were staring at fourth and 17, turning the
ball over on downs.
Crossroads would put the ball in end-zone one more time. David Dantuma
scored on a 30-yard rush, bringing the score to 38-26.
“We had our chances. The safety was huge,” Hunter said. “But the kids
are pretty resilient. They’ll come back next week.” |
