Football: McAllister runs for 191 yards in Porters win
PORTERS 16, MARINERS 8
It may seem hard to believe now, seeing the battle scars on Tyshe Williams’ helmet, but it was only a little over a month ago when he was issued shiny new headgear. Now, with some of the gold paint peeled off the front of the helmet, revealing bright yellow underneath, Williams unquestionably has the roughest looking helmet on the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck high school football team.
Nevertheless, the helmet could be considered a source of pride for Williams, who has been petitioning coach Jack Martilotta for a replacement helmet. Those marks on Williams’ helmet are evidence of the violent collisions the senior fullback/middle linebacker has been involved in during the first four games of the season. They also say a lot about how active he has been on the field.
Williams played a tremendous game on both sides of the ball, Billy McAllister ran for a career-high 191 yards and the Porters churned out 299 rushing yards in a 16-8 win over Southampton/Ross on Wednesday night.
Rainfall shortly before the kickoff and some misting during it, left the field turf at Southampton High School’s Richard H. Smith Field slick and the ball was slippery. It surely wasn’t a night for throwing. Both teams kept the passing to a minimum, with each side completing only one pass for 7 yards.
That suited the Porters (2-2 in Suffolk County Division IV) just fine. They had more rushing yards than they managed in their first three games combined. McAllister had his best game ever for the Porters, surpassing 100 yards by halftime. The senior carried the ball 25 times, with eight of those runs for 10 yards or more.
It was McAllister hopping over the middle from 3 yards out for a touchdown that put the Porters in front, 13-6, with 4 minutes 26 seconds left in the second quarter.
A 26-yard field goal by John Drinkwater in the fourth quarter gave the Porters a bit more breathing room.
The game had started promisingly for the Porters. On the first series, they marched 68 yards in 11 plays (all runs), capped off by Williams’ 1-yard plunge for the score.
That touchdown could be seen as a just reward for the hard-working Williams. Not only did he have eight carries for 35 yards, but he was involved in 9 tackles, 7 of them solo. That gives Williams a team-leading 22 tackles for the season.
But the game didn’t turn out to be as easy for the Porters as that opening drive might have led one to believe. Southampton/Ross (1-3) responded with a second-quarter touchdown run by Andre Franklin (11 carries, 89 yards), who headed straight up the middle before moving out to the right and racing untouched 34 yards to the end zone.
Thomas Roughan lined up to kick the extra point, but after receiving the snap, Will Taylor-Reddick handed the ball off to Roughan, who ran it in for a 2-point conversion and an 8-7 lead.
The Porters moved the ball well, picking up 18 first downs to six by the Mariners.
Defensively, the Porters were aided by interceptions by Garrett Malave, Dominick Panetta (his third in three games) and Chris Dwyer, and a fumble recovery by Matt Drinkwater.
Roughan made 12 tackles and forced a fumble while Jack O’Brien had 9 tackles, one of them being a sack. Colby Lenahan, who ran for 85 yards, also caused a fumble and made two fumble recoveries on a night when holding onto the ball wasn’t easy.
Late in the game, John Drinkwater and Lenahan were ejected after a skirmish.
