Shamrocks stun Morrice

After a heartbreaking loss to Mount Pleasant last week, the Shamrocks of Portland St. Patrick had another tough opponent in last years State Semi-finalist Morrice Orioles. This week, the Shamrocks would fight like wildcats right to the end, and pull of an exhilarating 30-24 overtime win.

In the first quarter, the Orioles took an early lead, but the Shamrocks came right back with a 22 yard touchdown pass from Brady Leonard to Charlie Thelen. The Orioles again drove on the Shamrocks and made the score 16-8 after one quarter.

The second and third quarters were defensive battles, with neither team giving up a score. The Shamrocks had a couple of costly injuries with Charlie Thelen and Joel Enz both injuring their fingers, and Hudson King injuring his hand, but the deep Shamrocks stepped up to continue the fight.

In the fourth quarter, the fireworks went off, when Morrice put another score on the Shamrocks, leading 24-8 going into the end of the game. This is when the Shamrocks really stiffened their backs and leaned into the load. Portland St. Patrick showed their conditioning, by dominating the Orioles on both sides of the ball and scoring 16 unanswered points, on two Brady Leonard rushing touchdowns, and two Brayden Simon 2 point conversions, tying the score 24-24 to end the regular game, and force overtime.

In overtime, both teams get the ball 1st and goal from the 10 yard line. Overtime continues until one team outscores the other. The Shamrock coaching staff chose to put their defense on the field, and the Shamrocks announced to the league that they were not to be taken lightly, overpowering the Orioles by pushing them back 15 yards and denying any scoring opportunity. The winning touchdown came from Brady Leonard a few plays later on a one yard score.

Offensive leaders for the Shamrocks were Brady Leonard who went 9 for 22 for 118 yards and a touchdown and carried the ball 16 times for 66 yards and 3 touchdowns, Brayden Simon who had 6 receptions for 56 yards, and freshmen Jerryd Scheurer who had an acrobatic catch for 36 yards.

Defensive leaders were myriad, as the Shamrocks gang tackled and battled the whole game. Aiden Mosser and Brayden Simon both had 11 tackles, Landon Simpson, Riley Mosser and Devin Cook all had 8 tackles.