Scott City football starts fast in district quarterfinal win over Portageville

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Scott City wide receiver Kobe Hann returns a kickoff for a touchdown during the Rams home win over the Portageville Bulldogs Friday, Oct. 26, 2018.

With the day off from school and a playoff game later that night, the Scott City football seniors had an idea early Friday: playoff mohawks.

So the Rams seniors and some juniors took turns shaving each other's heads. Hours later, with the victory secured, that same group of players crowded together, posing for a postgame picture.

The third-seeded Rams had plenty of reason to celebrate. They had just defeated No. 6 Portageville 54-30 in a Class 1 District 1 quarterfinal at William Wilthong Field, continuing a turnaround from last season.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Scott City running back Jimmy May, left, celebrates with wide receiver Joe Panagos, right, after one of May's touchdowns during the Rams home win over the Portageville Bulldogs Friday, Oct. 26, 2018.

After going 3-7 last fall, Scott City has reached eight wins heading into next week's district semifinal matchup at No. 2 Valle Catholic.

The Rams started fast against the Bulldogs, taking a two-possession lead in less than six minutes and led 47-6 at halftime. From there, Scott City cruised to its first postseason victory in two years.

"We knew we wanted to come out and go fast," Scott City coach Jim May said. "The last time they played us they actually were up 13-0, and we came out really sluggish. We wanted to start fast. Our kids played really well last week and started well last week and they did the same this week, and it really put us in a great chance to win."

Two juniors sporting those playoff mohawks led the way on offense. Quarterback Spencer Stratman threw four touchdown passes, all in the first half, and finished 15-of-21 passing for 195 yards. Jimmy May had three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, and had 225 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Joe Panagos finished with two touchdown catches, part of an eight-reception night, and Eli Berry had two catches for 31 yards.

"When Jimmy can run for 10 yards a carry it really brings the linebackers down into the box and the safeties down in the box," Stratman said. "It opens it up for my two receivers that are clearly really good."

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

Scott City linebacker Spencer Stratman returns the ball after intercepting a pass during the Rams home win over the Portageville Bulldogs Friday, Oct. 26, 2018.

Tight end William Klingeman also caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Scott City (8-2) jumped on top early, forcing a three-and-out on Portageville's first possession and then putting together a nine-play, 91-yard touchdown drive. On second-and-10 from the Portageville 15-yard line, Jimmy May took a toss right and cut back inside to score.

The Rams kept the momentum going, recovering May's onside kick. He then ripped off a 48-yard run to set Scott City up at the Portageville 2, and Elders capped off the drive with a touchdown plunge.

Less than six minutes into the game, the Rams were ahead 13-0.

"That was huge because it gave our offense a ton of energy, and we kept it going," Stratman said. "We kept the ball moving the entire game."

Portageville (4-6) responded as Connor Barham found Sam Riggs over the middle for a 48-yard touchdown to cut Scott City's lead to 13-6.

That was as close as the Bulldogs got.

Kobe Hann returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to restore the double-digit lead. On Scott City's next possession, Stratman found Panagos on a wide receiver screen for a 12-yard touchdown.

At the end of the first quarter, Scott City led 27-6. That lead only grew in the second quarter as Stratman tossed three more touchdown passes.

His final came on the last play of the first half as he found Panagos in the right corner of the end zone. Stratman set up the drive with an interception return to the Portageville 25.

Scott City again shut down Portageville's pass-heavy offense, coming up with two interceptions. The Bulldogs' 24 second-half points came against the Rams' backups.

Kile Adams led the way with 17 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

The first time these two teams played, in Week 6, Scott City had five interceptions in a 42-19 win.

"We still were bend-but-don't-break," coach May said. "We weren't allowing them to beat us deep and make them go short and try to rally and tackle. We did a pretty good job of that."

Scott City will look to keep this turnaround season going next week against an 8-2 Valle team that beat No. 7 Chaffee 54-19 on Friday. It will have to do so without a starting lineman, who was ejected in the second quarter against Portageville and will miss next week's game.

"We know what we're up against," coach May said. "We've never got to play them. Everybody else has got to go up there and play them, so we're going to take a turn. We're going to be a little short-handed, but we're going to go and play as hard as we can play."

One thing's for sure. The playoff mohawks are making a trip north to Valle Catholic High School next week.

First quarter

SC -- Jimmy May 15 run (May kick), 8:02

SC -- Sam Elders 2 run (kick failed), 6:26

P -- Sam Riggs 48 pass from Connor Barham (pass failed), 4:16

SC -- Kobe Hann 90 kickoff return (May kick), 4:05

SC -- Joe Panagos 12 pass from Spencer Stratman (May kick), 1:52

Second quarter

SC -- William Klingeman 26 pass from Stratman (May kick), 9:13

SC -- Jimmy May 35 pass from Stratman (May kick), 2:25

SC -- Panagos 13 pass from Stratman (kick failed), 0:00

Third quarter

SC -- May 49 run (May kick), 11:03

P -- Kile Adams 29 run (Tyler Dubois run), 4:42

Fourth quarter

P -- Martavious Hopkins 5 run (#36 run), 8:04

P -- Adams 10 run (Adams run), 3:44

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Portageville, Kile Adams 17-204, #36 6-86, Connor Barham 3-14, Martavious Hopkins 2-5; Scott City, Jimmy May 17-225, Sam Elders 4-33, Landon O'Brien 2-8, Kaleb Karrenbrock 3-8, Spencer Stratman 5-6, Team 2-(15).

PASSING -- Portageville, Barham 17-34-2-199; Scott City, Stratman 15-21-0-195.

RECEIVING -- Portageville, Bub Lance 7-90, Sam Riggs 5-89, #36 2-8, Jared Crafton 2-6, Adams 1-6; Scott City, Joe Panagos 8-85, Eli Berry 2-31, Elders 2-21, May 1-35, William Klingeman 1-25, Sam Jordan 1-(-2).