Semoball

Portageville prepared for second shot at state-ranked Scott City

Portageville's Jamarion Smith (24) beats a defender to the edge during the Bulldogs' 72-20 win at East Prairie on Friday, Sep. 9. 
Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat

The Portageville football team is a group of proven winners, having experienced success in multiple sports over the past few seasons.

But the Bulldogs (8-2) will have their hands full this week when they travel to Scott City (9-1) to meet the Rams in the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 Tournament.

“They are an amazing group of kids that leave everything they have on the game field regardless of the sport,” said Portageville coach Ian Penrod. “They are a selfless group that does not care who gets the glory as long as the team gets a win.”

The Portageville program has taken some big steps in the past two seasons. The Bulldogs recorded their first winning season since 2013 last season and have continued to build off of that momentum and strengthen its foundation this year. “[It’s been because of the] Weight room and work,” Penrod said. “The kids work year round and it shows not only in football but also in all of our sports. They are a group of grinders that know that to be successful it ‘takes what it takes and that there are no shortcuts to hard work and success.

”Another reason for the success over the last two seasons has been the development of our linemen on the offensive and defensive side,” he continued. “Good and physical line play paired with special players usually ends well.”

Junior running back Jamarion Smith has carried the offense this season, rushing for 1,645 yards and 25 touchdowns on 214 carries. He’s also caught a touchdown, thrown a touchdown and recorded 48.5 tackles and three interceptions on defense.

‘[Smith] is an amazing athlete and a better kid,” Penrod said. “Hard working and coachable is all any coach can ever ask for. I trust him because I trust all of the athletes' on the team, they have sweat equity built up and any kid that will work is one you can trust.

Last year, [Smith] started to come on later in the year and we knew that coming into this season he was going to be the workhorse back,” he continued. “We also changed up some of our running schemes allowing more players to get involved and getting Mason Adams running more as well. More moving pieces make it harder to key solely on Smith.”

Scott City was ranked as the No. 7 team in Class 1 in the latest Missouri Media Football Rankings. The Bulldogs led the Rams 30-26 at halftime before eventually falling 48-38 earlier this season.

“We knew going into the last matchup that Scott City was one of the best teams in the conference and district and it was going to be a tough game,” Penrod said. “As a team, we saw that if you do not execute in all three phases of the game versus a team like Scott City you won't be going home with a win.”

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