PORTSMOUTH, Ohio ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” For the first time in a decade-and-a-half and not counting COVID, the Portsmouth Trojans opened against a different opponent donning purple and gold.
For the first time in a full decade after their opener, though, the Trojans are 0-1.
ThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s because Portsmouth played Unioto on Thursday night and not Lucasville Valley for its 2025 football season opener and indeed it was a night for the Trojans in which very little went right.
The visiting Shermans steamrolled Portsmouth 42-0 at the Trojan Coliseum.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a very good Unioto team,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Portsmouth coach Bruce Kalb said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œA Division IV ballclub, when you have a school that size, you end up with average or above average athletes at every position on the field. When we picked up them up last year, I knew it was going to be a good test for this program to see where we are at. They came out tonight and they took it to us.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Portsmouth punted six times, including on its first five possessions, and five times total following a series of three-and-out. The Trojans never crossed midfield, getting only to their own 45 on their only second-half first down ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” a 12-yard run by Jemarkus Parker on their fifth from final play of the game.
They fumbled four times but didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t lose any, even though three high snaps in the first five plays clearly set their offensive tone.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe had some snapping issues. Our starting center (Logan Thurman) had gone down early in the season, and we had a freshman (Alex Martinez) step in there and he did a phenomenal job for us in the preseason. But this was his first varsity game experience,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Kalb said.
They rushed 18 times for just nine yards, had 20 fewer first downs, ran almost 20 fewer plays from scrimmage, and had 54 total yards.
PHS senior quarterback Marquez Locklear made his first career varsity start, and although he completed 11 of 15 passes, the majority were short routes or simple dumpoffs ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥”with junior Camron Williams making five receptions.
Locklear once went deep, with the Trojans trailing 28-0 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second quarter, but Sherman senior Jack Winegardner was there for the interception at the Unioto 44.
The TrojansÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ final first-half possession ran right up against the half, and with the final 22 minutes being played with the Ohio High School Athletic AssociationÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s running-clock rule in effect, Portsmouth plays from scrimmage in the second half totaled only eight.
The brightest star for the Trojans on Thursday night: senior defensive back Leeland Scurlock, who made two first-half interceptions of Unioto junior quarterback Isaac Coy.
The Shermans scored all the points needed with four minutes and 22 seconds left in the first quarter, as Cody Braden capped a six-play and 37-yard drive with a two-yard run.
Liam Mathey made all four of his extra-point kicks, as Tanner Beam booted both of UniotoÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s second-half PATs.
The Shermans also took advantage of 13 Portsmouth penalties for 110 yards.
Braden, who finished with 100 yards on 10 carries, scored his second short TD run to make it 21-0, capping a seven-play and 2:49 drive that began at midfield.
Coy complemented Braden by completing 9 of 17 passes for 118 yards, and two more third-quarter touchdown tosses ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” a 9-yarder to junior Jack Welch and a 7-yarder to freshman Brayden Harsha.
Coy carried six times and scored from the 1 to make it 28-0.
Kalb commented on the Trojans making many mistakes, which were simply self-inflicted.
The high snapping issues early on, and the pervasive penalties all throughout.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhen you face a good ballclub like that, you canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t dig yourself into a hole with self-inflicted injuries. You just canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Kolb said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThat was something we really tried to iron out coming into this week. We didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have too many in the preseason, but time and again with those self-inflicted injuries, it just took us over. Encroachments, false starts, you canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have those self-inflicted injuries against a team like that and not pay for them later on. And we paid dearly.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Kolb said the errors are correctable.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI challenged the kids. Mistakes happen. But the thing is how are you going to respond? ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s easy to point fingers, pout, throw your helmet, get upset, whatever it is. But thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not the type of ballclub we want to be,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Kalb said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe had a really bad first half of football. But how we were going to respond to that? Are you going to continue to make the same mistakes over and over, or are you going to try to eliminate those mistakes?ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Kolb hopes for improvement before FridayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s game at Portsmouth West.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œHats off to Unioto, because thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a very good and very well-coached team. They are no slouch. We knew they were going to be a tall task for us. And tonight showed we had a lot of guys out there playing varsity football for the first time. But there wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t a single thing tonight that cannot be fixed,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said Kalb. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI know this team and I know the heart of this team. These kids know this is not characteristic of who we are. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to make sure we do everything we can to get better. I am excited to see how we bounce back from this.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
UNIOTO 7 21 14 0 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” 42
PORTSMOUTH 0 0 0 0 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” 0
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Braden 2 run (Mathey kick)
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Zickafoose 25 pass from Coy (Matney kick)
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Braden 6 run (Mathey kick)
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Coy 1 run (Mathey kick)
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Welch 9 pass from Coy (Beam kick)
U ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Harsha 7 pass from Coy (Beam kick)
Team Statistics
U P
First Downs 24 4
Scrimmage plays 52 33
Rushes-yards 33-207 18-9
Passing yards 118 45
Total yards 325 54
Passes 9-19-2 1 1-15-1
Fumbles-lost 2-0 4-0
Penalties-yards 9-50 13-110
Punts 0-0 6-29.3
Individual Leaders
Rushing
Unioto: Braden 10-100, Wilson 5-27, Coy 6-17, Vallette 3-14, Long 3-10, Jackson 3-9, Beam 2-14, Braden 1-16; Portsmouth: Poxes 6-16, Locklear 6-(minus-5), J. Parker 2-15, Livingston 2-(-12), D. Parker 1-(minus-2), Team 1-(minus-3)
Passing
Unioto: Coy 9-17-2, 118 yards, Braden 0-2-0-0; Portsmouth: Locklear 11-15-1 45 yards.
Receiving
Unioto: Welch 4-33, Harsha 3-44, Zickafoose 2-41; Portsmouth: Williams 5-16, Johnson 2-14, Poxes 2-3, Meyers 1-14, D. Parker 1-(minus-2).
