PROCTORVILLE — Simply put, and spearheaded by junior Chase Heiland, the Portsmouth Trojans took to a ground assault to slay some Fairland Dragons.

That’s because Heiland hit for a massive and career-high 376 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 43 carries, and the 15th-seeded Trojans outscored the host and second-seeded Dragons 32-6 over the final 16 minutes and 25 seconds —capturing a stunning 50-38 Division V Region 19 opening-round playoff victory on Friday night at Jim Mayo Memorial Stadium.

The meeting was the second this season between the Ohio Valley Conference rivals, and the second at Fairland in fact, as the Dragons dialed up in the second half —and won 43-27.

But, the final quarter-and-a-half for Friday’s return bout belonged indeed to the Trojans —which won a first-round playoff game for the third consecutive season.

And, they did so as a 15 seed as opposed to two years as a nine—as Portsmouth prevailed in close contests in 2021 (at Zane Trace) and 2022 (at Union Local).

The Ohio High School Athletic Association expanded the state playoff field from eight teams per region to 16 squads two years ago.

Portsmouth won three straight regional quarterfinals from 2000 to 2002, all of which were at home —at historic Spartan Municipal Stadium at the time.

Now, the PHS digs are the sparkling Trojan Coliseum —but the Trojans’ tall task on Friday night took them back to the Dragons’ lair.

Apparently, no home field advantage —no problem for Portsmouth’s running attack, and Heiland.

“Here’s the thing. This time, we stuck to our gameplan. They adjusted at halftime (in first game), but we looked at the game film and looked at how did our gameplan unfold. We’re big and strong up front and we have a heck of a running back (Heiland) and a heck of a fullback (Levaughn Cobb) to block for him,” PHS coach Bruce Kalb told The Huntington Herald-Dispatch. “We knew they (Dragons) could score quick, but we didn’t think ‘oh gosh, we have to match them score for score this time.’ We didn’t hit the panic button. We told them at halftime we’re not going to change what we’re doing. We’re still going to run power and we’re still going to run counter.”

Heiland had the final two touchdowns of the game, first putting Portsmouth back in front for the final time — at 43-38 with 4:48 left on a 35-yard run.

But the Trojans got the ball back —as Noah Livingston intercepted Peyton Jackson’s fourth-down pass at the Trojan 28-yard line.

From the PHS 41, Heiland broke free for a 46-yard gainer to the Dragons’ 13 —then carried three straight times including for the final six with a minute and 54 seconds to go.

Zach Roth registered his sixth and final point of the night — his third extra-point kick to make it 50-38.

The Dragons did get the ball back once more, and moved to the Portsmouth 38, but Leland Scurlock secured the victory for the Trojans —intercepting a Jackson pass at the 15-yard line with 1:18 remaining.

Portsmouth raised its record to 6-5, while the Dragons ended the year at 9-2 —losing only in the regular season (62-14) at Ironton (9-1) in the OVC.

After a back-and-forth first half featuring four lead changes and a 10-10 second-quarter tie on a Roth 25-yard field goal, Christian Collins’ 74-yard kickoff return for a touchdown — and Jackson’s two-point pass to Keegan Smith —gave the Dragons a 25-18 halftime lead.

Jackson then connected with Brycen Hunt for a 51-yard scoring strike with 4:20 gone by in the third quarter, giving the Dragons their largest lead —on Aeden Miller’s third and final extra point to make it 32-18.

With five minutes gone by the matchup, Miller made a 34-yard field goal to open the scoring.

However, over the final 4:25 of the third —and the entirety of the 12-minute final stanza —the only Dragon points were a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Collins, as those two combined for 20-yard TD early on.

Jackson did his part to keep the Dragons breathing fire, completing 21 of 39 passes for 356 yards and five touchdowns —as Quentin Cremeans caught one from 26 yards, with four-and-a-half minutes gone by in the second.

Hunt and Collins caught seven Jackson passes apiece —as Hunt had 128 receiving yards and Collins 125.

But the Trojan defense made Fairland’s running life miserable, as the Dragons had 13 rushes for minus-16 yards.

Instead, it was Portsmouth running the ball at will —with Heiland’s 46-yard scamper giving him his second score, and a 32-25 Trojan deficit with Roth’s second extra point.

Freshman quarterback Camron Williams, with 74 yards and a hat trick of TDs on 11 attempts, then put Portsmouth in front —with a 23-yard run with 13 seconds left in the third, and then a 22-yard jaunt only 2:17 into the fourth.

Just two minutes and 55 tics later at the 6:48 juncture, the Dragons took their last lead at 38-37, but missed their only extra point — when Jackson’s two-point pass was incomplete.

Heiland had his first of his final two TDs two minutes later, as his first score was a four-yard run only 21 seconds into the second.

Williams, who had an 18-yard run to open Portsmouth’s scoring, ran in the two-point conversion —making it 18-17 in favor of the Trojans.

Heiland had 24 points, Williams 20, and Roth the other six.

Of Portsmouth’s 62 plays from scrimmage, 60 were runs for 500 yards —as the Trojans’ two passes resulted in no gain.

Only one, by Williams to Trevin Brooks, was even complete.

J.T. Williams, Camron’s older brother, rushed five times for 46 yards for PHS.

The Trojans also overcame eight penalties.

The Trojans travel now to seventh-seeded and 7-3 Wheelersburg on Friday night for a Region 19 quarterfinal, as the Trojans and Pirates — longtime archrival neighbors — played last in 2016.

The long-running regular-season series stopped after that, and attempts to revive it have yet to yield it back on the schedules.

Portsmouth hasn’t defeated Wheelersburg since the 2007 campaign —the final year before Rob Woodward became Wheelersburg’s head coach.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ed Miller Stadium in Wheelersburg.

* * *

Portsmouth 7 11 13 19 — 50

Fairland 10 15 7 6—38

F— Aeden Miller, 34-yard field goal, 6:59, 1st (3-0 F)

P — Camron Williams, 18-yard run (Zach Roth kick), 4:26, 1st (7-3 P)

F— Christian Collins, 20-yard pass from Peyton Jackson (Aeden Miller kick), 2:57, 1st (10-7 F)

P — Zach Roth, 25-yard field goal, 9:11, 2nd (10-10 tie)

F — Quentin Cremeans, 26-yard pass from Peyton Jackson (Aeden Miller kick), 7:29, 2nd (17-10 F)

P — Chase Heiland, 4-yard run (Camron Williams run), 11:39, 2nd (18-17 P)

F — Christian Collins, 74-yard kickoff return (Keegan Smith pass from Peyton Jackson), 1:23, 2nd (25-18 F)

F— Brycen Hunt, 51-yard pass from Peyton Jackson (Aeden Miller kick), 8:40, 3rd (32-18 F)

P — Chase Heiland, 46-yard run (Zach Roth kick), 4:25, 3rd (32-25 F)

P —Camron Williams, 23-yard run (run failed), :13, 3rd (32-31 F)

P — Camron Williams, 22-yard run (pass failed), 9:43, 4th (37-32 P)

F— Christian Collins, 10-yard pass from Peyton Jackson (pass failed), 6:48, 4th (38-37 F)

P — Chase Heiland, 35-yard run (run failed), 4:48, 4th (43-38 P)

P — Chase Heiland, 6-yard run (Zach Roth kick), 1:54, 4th (50-38 P)

Team Statistics

P F

First downs 23 21

Scrimmage plays 62 53

Rushes-yards 60-500 13-(-16)

Passing yards 0 356

Total yards 500 340

Cmp-Att-Int. 1-2-0 21-40-2

Fumbles-lost 1-0 4-0

Penalties-yards 8-68 5-25

Punts-Ave. 2-35.5 4-41

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Portsmouth: Chase Heiland 43-376 4TD, Camron Williams 11-74 3TD, J.T. Williams 5-46, Fernando Poxes 1-4; Fairland: Quentin Cremeans 5-8, Peyton Jackson 5-(-20), Team 3-(-4)

PASSING — Portsmouth: Camron Williams 1-1-0-0, J.T. Williams 0-1-0-0; Fairland: Peyton Jackson 21-39-2-356 5TD, Brycen Hunt 0-1-0-0

RECEIVING— Portsmouth: Trevin Brooks 1-0; Fairland: Brycen Hunt 7-128 TD, Christian Collins 7-125 TD, Jack Hayden 4-28, Will Davis 1-27, Quentin Cremeans 1-26 TD, Keegan Smith 2-22

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