By Kris Freeman
White House Football

A win at Portland did many things for the White House football team of 2006.

For the seniors, it gave the group a victory in the last attempt against the arch-rival Panthers. For the team, it moved the Blue Devils over the .500 mark at 2-1 for the season. For the program, it was a rebound from last year's 38-14 loss. But for the playoff race, it became just a memory.

White House jumped out to a 24-0 lead at Portland Friday night, defeating the Panthers 31-14 at Memorial Field, where White House has won its last three tries. But with the Region 4-3A season kicking off at Macon County in week four, the rival conquest of the non-region, Class 4-A Panthers must be enjoyed quickly.

"Tonight was a big win, but it's no comparison to what is on the line for our football team next Friday night," said White House head coach Jeff Porter. "I hope our kids will be mature enough to achieve the focus they had for this game tonight. That focus by our team is what is required of us to be successful."

On the ground is where the Blue Devils found success Friday, with Justin West eclipsing the 150-yard mark for the third straight week with 154 yards on 22 carries with a pair of touchdowns. He was aided by sophomore Cody Allen, who broke through for 80 yards on eight attempts, including a breakaway 38-yarder for the second week in a row, this time in the fourth quarter at Portland.

After breaking two tackles at the line and spinning around, Allen was sure to score, but a leg cramp ended his bid for the endzone and he fell inside the 10. The Blue Devils eventually finished off the drive, going 5-for-5 in the red zone scoring chances in the game.

"Our backs have run hard all year," said Coach Porter. "Justin ran the ball well and Cody's run was a 'never-say-die' run, unless your legs give out. But I think our whole football team has improved since week one and we keep taking steps each week. We have a long ways to go, but maybe sometime this year we can become a good football team."

White House ran for 260 yards in the game, and passed for just 17, but field position played a key role for the Blue Devils. While White House started in Portland territory four times, scoring on three, the Panthers were forced to drive from inside their own 22-yard-line six of seven times, including four touchbacks by White House's Jake Hunter. One drive began at the Portland 44 after a Justin West fumble, but the Devils snuffed out a double pass when Jordan Armstrong was intercepted by Chad Neal in the fourth quarter.

"I take my hat off to our kicker tonight," said Porter. "Field position was huge in the first half, and we had one scoring drive of 45 yards and another of 40, while Jake consistently kept them backed up and made them drive 80. We always know against Portland we have to work hard on special teams because they are always good at it."

White House was also efficient in the contest, converting all three fourth down attempts and 50 percent on third down, while Portland gained 234 yards, but just made 4-of-10 third downs, and only 2-of-3 fourth downs, in the game and was hampered by 80 yards of penalties. The Blue Devils also tacked on 80 yards in flags in a game filled with dead-ball personal fouls.

Portland opened with a steady drive, but a clipping penalty pushed them back to their own 30. Rogers Gaines sacked Colton Williamson on second down, then a third down lateral pass to Armstrong flew out of bounds for a loss of 10 yards. Matt Parker returned the punt to the Panther 45 for White House's opening possession.

The Blue Devils scored in 10 plays when West plunged in from one yard out and Hunter's kick made it 7-0. The teams exchanged punts before a key fumble changed momentum in the second period.

With Portland driving after seven plays at its own 33, pushing the ball out from the 10, Gaines forced a fumble in the backfield on Williamson and Michael Moore recovered. Six plays later, Townsend snuck in on second down from one yard away and Hunter's kick made it 14-0.

Portland again mounted an attack, but the Blue Devils forced a turnover on downs at the White House 30 when Williamson's completion on a swing pass to Armstrong was stopped for no gain by Bryce Akers, Michael Barrett and Adam Wiss on fourth down. Taking over with 1:11 left on the first half clock, followed by a personal foul penalty on the Panthers, the Blue Devils marched into Portland territory on a second down bolt by West for 40 yards. Hunter nailed a 36-yard field goal at the buzzer for a 17-0 edge.

Coming out with the ball in the third period, White House drove 13 plays, 80 yards and ate 6:50 off the clock when West scored from four yards away. Four plays into the series, Townsend converted a quarterback sneak to keep the drive alive and a penalty moved it up 15 yards. Hunter's kick made it 24-0 at the 5:10 mark of the third quarter.

"I think the key drive of the game was us stopping them on fourth down and then driving to kick the field goal before the half," Porter said. "It could have been a one-score game and it was a three-score game. We come out of halftime like you hope a team will and take it down and score."

Portland finally put points on the board, but ate a monumental amount of clock in the process with a methodical 17-play, 80-yard drive for 8:34 crossing into the fourth quarter. Armstrong scored on a three-yard run, but Williamson was corralled behind the line by Gaines, Moore and Vincente Dominguez on the two-point conversion to keep it a 24-6 game. White House fumbled after Portland was unsuccessful on the onside kick, but the Panthers gave it right back on the interception by Neal returned to the Panther 46. Seven plays later, DeMarqus Payne sealed the deal with an eight-yard run and a 31-6 margin.

Portland drove six plays and 80 yards to add a touchdown for the 31-14 final, when Dominque Roe broke loose for runs of 13 and 12 yards, and then Armstrong scored his second touchdown with a seven-yard rush, and also converted the two-point conversion.

Armstrong gained 46 yards on 14 carries in the game, but Roe was the leading rusher with 53 yards on five attempts. Williamson was 5-of-8 passing for 39 yards and rushed for 34 on 15 tries, but the Blue Devils were in the backfield all night with seven tackles for losses and a sack, led by Gaines, in on five of those plays.

"I think up until the fourth quarter, we made some important stops on defense when we had to," Porter explained. "We had some long drives and they did the same and it was difficult to get the ball back from either team in the second half."