Shamrocks defeat Vandals on the gridiron

The Portland St. Patrick Shamrocks made a trip north to play the Merrill Vandals on friday, September 24th. The Shamrocks jumped out hard, but the gritty and well coached Vandals fought back before succumbing their homecoming game, 38-18.

The Shamrocks opened up the first quarter with a scoring blitz, with QB Lucas Simon getting flushed out of the pocket and juking his way to a 57 yard touchdown. Derec Fedewa followed that up with a 53 yard and a 19 yard touchdown, to leave the score 18-0 after one quarter.

Early into the second quarter, the Shamrocks put another one on the board with Lucas Simon punching it in from 4 yards out. The Vandal defense showed up at that point, and held the score 25-0 at halftime.

After halftime, Merrill came out and marched right down the field, making the score 25-6. Derec Fedewa continued his power running, and punched one in from 39 yards out. Merrill finished off the quarter with a 90 yard touchdown, leaving the score 32-12 after three quarters of play.

In the final quarter, the Vandals put together a big drive and punched one in from three yards out, making the score 32-18. After an onside kick with around 9 minutes left to go, the Shamrock offense put together a beautiful long grinding drive which culminated in a Derec Fedewa touchdown. This drive ate up most of the clock and the Shamrock defense held to see a final score of 38-18.

Offensive leaders for the Shamrocks were Derec Fedewa who had 22 carries for 216 yards and 4 touchdowns. Lucas Simon had 15 carries for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Defensive leaders were Braxton Teachworth who had 14 tackles 5 assists and 4 tackles for loss (TFL), Shane Cook had 11 tackles and 2 assists, and Derec Fedewa had 5 tackles and 4 assists.

The Shamrocks travel to Vestaburg next Saturday at 2 pm for a showdown with the undefeated Wolverines.