Huntington falls to Portsmouth West, shifts focus to Zane Trace

There's no time for Huntington to dwell on Friday night (Sept. 4).

Put simply, the Huntsmen couldn't contain Portsmouth West's two-headed backfield monster of Anthony Bishop and Westyn Ratcliff in a 28-7 loss.

The Senators' dynamic duo combined to rush for 366 yards and four scores.

But the sun will come up Saturday morning with Huntington facing forward instead of looking in the rearview mirror.

"All of our goals are ahead of us. I know tonight didn't go our way but our kids will learn from the mistakes," Huntington coach Clay Beeler said. "I'm already over it. The team's over it. I guarantee you that these guys are going to come back ready to battle tomorrow. We're still a great football team and we're still healthy. We just have to put some things together to play with teams like Portsmouth West."

From the get-go, the Senators (3-0) called on Bishop to do their dirty work.

The hard-nosed, yet elusive tailback put Portsmouth West on the board at the 6:17 mark in the first quarter, making it 7-0 with a five-yard run.

Huntington (1-2) provided an answer with 5:01 remaining in the second, thanks to a 30-yard touchdown strike from Frankie Hirsch to Junior McDonald.

But Bishop was just getting started. With just 1:23 before halftime, he'd score again from seven yards out to send the Senators into the break with a 14-7 advantage.

"[West] has great running backs, obviously," Beeler said. "But I just thought we didn't tackle well, and I thought penalties killed us in the first half. We made some adjustments and got two or three stops in the second half. But offensively, they ate us up in the box. We were behind the sticks all night. It's just small things that we have to fix."

Bishop scored a third time with 8:35 left in the third and, with 10:53 remaining in the game, Ratcliff provided the knockout punch with an 85-yard rushing touchdown.

Huntington kept fighting to get back into the contest, but it was to no avail.

"We didn't quit. Our kids battled," Beeler said. "We're down 28-7 late and we got a fourth down stop to get the ball back. So our kids didn't quit and we stayed disciplined tonight. West was just big up front and we didn't tackle well. When you don't tackle well against a team that runs the ball like they do, you're in trouble."

Statistically, Hirsch led the Huntsmen, going 8-of-17 passing for 119 yards and a touchdown while also adding 11 rushes for 40 yards. McDonald caught five passes for 79 yards and a score.

Defensively, Carson McNeal and Wes Hamilton each had nine tackles.

The Huntsmen will face another stiff challenge on Sept. 11, traveling to Kinnikinnick to take on a Zane Trace program that has yet to be beaten.

The Pioneers will also bring in a strong run game that's been their centerpiece this fall.

"We have a sign in the locker room that says, 'Do your job.' If 11 guys do their job, great things happen. If 10 guys do their job, bad things happen," Beeler said. "We played West because we felt like they would prepare us for Zane Trace. Now, we've played a big, physical offensive line with great running backs. We'll be ready next week. Our kids will put in work and we'll give [Zane Trace] everything we've got."