On Friday night at Porter Ridge High School the Pirates racked up 575 yards of total offense to hand Independence its third conference loss while moving to 2-1 in the Southwestern 4A Conference.
Indy started the game by receiving the opening kickoff which sailed into the end zone giving Indy the ball on its own 20 yard line. Indy moved the ball to their own 34 yard line before Luke McPhail got sacked for a nine yard loss. On third and long McPhail connected with Elijah Beamer, but the Patriots came up one yard short and had to punt.
Grayson McCall. Indy’s Tyran Jones (25) arrives to assist on the tackle. (Ron Morris)
The Pirates took over on their own 34 yard line with 8:07 to go in the first period.The Pirates moved the ball down the field, and after a holding call against Indy the Pirates quarterback Grayson McCall ran to Indy’s four yard line. On the next play Indy was called for an offside violation which moved the ball to the two yard line. McCall scored on a quarterback keeper to take a 7-0 lead with 5:51 left in the first quarter.
Unable to move the ball, Indy punted and Porter Ridge took over on its own 47 yard line and drove the ball down to Indy’s four yard line. McCall fumbled and Indy recovered the ball to stop the drive at the 1:58 mark in the first quarter.
Indy moved to the 25 yard marker on a pass to Dylan Bryan but was unable to pick up another first down and had to punt. On the punt the Pirates were called for a block in the back and took possession on their own 40 yard line with 11:43 remaining in the first half.
Porter Ridge’s offense moved the ball to Indy’s 16 yard line after a Malcolm Hines’ 30 yard run. Following some defensive stops an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the Pirates back to the 34 yard line. Indy’s Kaleb Baker took the ball away from the Pirates’ runner on an end run and returned it back to the Pirates’ 14 yard line.
After another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called against the Pirates Indy took over on the 24 yard line with 9:10 remaining in the first half. McPhail hit Xavier Lloyd for a first down at the 13 yard line. The Pirates were able to make a few defensive stops and a holding penalty against the Patriots moved the ball back to the 32 yard line. On a fourth and long, Dino Silva attempted a 48 yard field goal which fell about two yards short turning the ball over to Porter Ridge.
Porter Ridge’s McCall found Hines open and hit him for a 49 yard touchdown pass to increase the score to 14-0 with 3:58 left to play in the first half.
Friday’s game at Porter Ridge High School. (Ron Morris)
On Porter Ridge’s next possession McCall threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to Keon Polk to make the score 21-0 with 1:26 remaining in the half.
Porter Ridge opened the second half by taking the kickoff to their own 31 yard line. The Pirates fumbled the ball, and Kenyatta Tshiona came up with the recovery on the 34 yard line.
On Indy’s first play, McPhail threw for the end zone, but Pirates’ Jake Horstkamp picked off the pass on the one yard line.
After moving the ball away from their own end zone, McCall hit Keon Polk for a 74 yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-0 with 6:10 left in the third.
The Pirates got their next score on a 16 yard run by Hines to increase their lead to 35-0 with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter.
After a fumble recovery, Indy took over on the 48 yard line with 53 seconds left in the third period. Indy’s running back Elijah Beamer took a hand off and ran around the right end for a 48 yard touchdown. Indy lined up for the two point try. A direct snap went to Xavier Lloyd who hit Trevor Beamer in the end zone for the two point conversion to make the score 35-8.
Indy attempted an onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds at midfield where Porter Ridge took possession. Porter Ridge’s first play form scrimmage was a fifty yard run making the score 42-8 with 11:50 remaining in the game.
Indy held on a fourth down attempt and took over on their own 21 yard line with 1:17 left in the game. Indy could not move the ball and turned it over with 28 seconds left.
Porter Ridge took a knee to end the game and the Pirates moved to a 2-1 conference record and 4-3 overall. Indy dropped to 0-3 in conference play and 1-6 for the season.
On Friday night the Patriots will host their arch rivals the Butler Bulldogs. Kick off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
