Cody Leightenheimer
PDT Sports Contributor
Franklin Furnace – Last night, the Green Bobcats (1-5) hosted the Notre Dame Titans (3-2) for a cold-to-the bone Friday night fight. The Titans took the Bobcats down hard with a final score of 47-0. Between the icy gusts and the constant rains, the biggest presence on the field was undoubtedly the long fingers of hurricane Joaquin.
The Titans started the game with a quick two play drive that ended in a long 65-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Sam Kayser. It was an outside rush and as he picked up speed he left five yards of space between him and any Bobcat defender.
The Bobcats split the work on their first drive between junior quarterback Tyler Darnell (18yds rushing), freshman running back Bailey Derifield (11 yds rushing) and senior running back Wyatt Blevins (19 yds rushing). The Bobcats chipped away at the Titans line looking for a breakaway run that never came.
Darnell fumbled on a first down rush that flopped around and ended up in Titan hands. For the rest of the game the Bobcats rushed for about 26 yards and made one passing attempt that was picked off by Notre Dame lineman Jesse Carroll. It was a hard night for the Bobcats, on both sides of the ball. The rain made the young team falter and slip on the line of scrimmage.
Greens’ defense struggled most on the outside, the corners scrambled and had trouble pulling their targets down. The line fought admirably and made a few stops. They forced Notre Dame outside but unfortunately for the Bobcats, that seemed to be where the Titans thrived.
Notre Dame split their running duties between their three tail backs; Kayser (98 yards rushing), junior Isiah Johnson (127 yards rushing), and senior Michael Collins (84 yards rushing). All three players took home two touchdowns.
Kayser’s second touchdown came off of a 16 yard outside dash to the end zone, well into the third quarter.
Johnson got his first touchdown on the third play of the Titan’s second drive, barreling the ball up the field for 58 yards. His second score came at the beginning of the second quarter, where he ran the ball up the middle for 8yards.
Collins got his long run to a touchdown in the early second quarter, 43 yards on the outside. He followed that up with a 16-yard short score in the third quarter.
Even freshman running back Ben Mader got to cross the goal line for a 10-yard rush.
It was a great night for Titan football, not a lot of mistakes were made. They got caught for a few offsides penalties and they had one drive where the sopping wet ball slipped at the snap for three straight plays, causing fumble/recoveries leading to 4-and-out situation. This was the only drive Notre Dame didn’t turn into a touchdown.
It was a cold, rainy game that silenced the crowd and wore on the players. Notre Dame didn’t even take the time to celebrate once the final whistle was blown. They sprinted, as a unit, off the field laughing and screaming about changing out of their soaked uniforms.
By Cody Leightenheimer for the Portsmouth Daily Times. Reach him @leightenheimer.
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