Defense leads the way for Portsmouth/Oyster River football in win over Winnacunnet

HAMPTON - There was encouragement taken from last week’s season-opening 10-6 loss to Nashua South by the Portsmouth/Oyster River football team, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

That defense reached another level on Friday night against Winnacunnet High School, and the ClipperCats’ offense followed its lead.

Portsmouth/Oyster River forced five turnovers and held the Warriors to 122 yards, while the ClipperCats’ running game piled up 241 yards and six touchdowns en route to 49-21 Division I victory. Portsmouth/Oyster River (1-1) is coming off last year’s 1-8 campaign.

“We’ve had two really good weeks defensively where we’ve played relatively well," Portsmouth/Oyster River coach Brian Pafford said. “We played up front well and that was probably the most physical game we’ve played in years.” 

The first wave of the defense is led by interior linemen Thor Griffith, Ben Hathaway and Joey Gobbi. Middle linebackers Jack Russo and Casey Gladu were all over the field, and end Cole Spires had a pair of sacks. Defensive back Oscar Lalime had two interceptions, including a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave the ClipperCats’ a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

“They’re bigger and they’re a year older,” Pafford said. “They are all playing really well right now. For us, it’s a mental thing of believing you can win and get some confidence going and get some momentum.”

Russo also had a sack, which was one of the 13 plays that resulted in negative yardage for Winnacunnet (0-2). The ClipperCats allowed only 24 yards in the first half.

“From the beginning of the week, the coaches had our game plan for us, and they just said do your job and everything will work out,” Russo said. “We ran hard and downhill and had gap responsibility and did a good job. I feel like we’re clicking. We’ve got depth, and we all know what we’re doing .”

Russo heavily contributed to the offense with 15 rushes for 78 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Jacob Boutin led the Clippers with 109 rushing yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns, also completing 6 of 10 passes for 62 yards.

“When we drove it in on the first drive, it felt really well. When this team gets rolling, we’re hard to stop. We just gotta get that momentum and keep it,” Boutin said. “I feel like a lot more confident than last year. I got my feet in the water, but now I’m in the deep end, and I’m ready to go get 'em.”

Portsmouth/Oyster River opened the game with an 11-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Russo that gave the ClipperCats’ a 7-0 lead with 6:51 left in the first quarter.

Boutin ended the first quarter with a 22-yard completion to Evan Jones down to Winnacunnet’s 5-yard line, and Russo finished off the drive on the first play of the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run.

The ClipperCats’ forced a punt attempt on Winnacunnet’s next possession, but the snap sailed over punter Owen Parker’s head and into the end zone. Parker recovered the ball, but was piled on for a safety to give the ClipperCats a 15-0 lead with 9:22 left in the second quarter.

“We have a lot of work to do. We’re not a team right now that can survive mistakes that a more veteran team can survive,” Winnacunnet coach Ryan Francoeur said. “Our margin for error is very small right now. We’ve got to stop that snowball effect when multiple things go wrong.”

The ClipperCats took a 28-0 lead late in the first half after Hathaway forced a fumble and Russo consequently scored on 31-yard run two plays later.

Winnacunnet starting quarterback Patrick Britton was injured following a completion, and was eventually taken away on a stretcher, into an ambulance. Francoeur said it was a precautionary measure for a concussion.

Backup quarterback Elliott Beals immediately stepped up, completing three passes that ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Kylan Delage. Beals also added a second half touchdown pass to Dominic Gould, as he finished 6 for 18 with two interceptions.

Winnacunnet closed to within 28-14 at halftime after Portsmouth fumbled the kickoff following Delage’s touchdown, and Chris McCelland returned it 16 yards for a touchdown. Any momentum was halted when another bad snap on punt attempt to open the third quarter resulted in the ClipperCats taking the ball over at Winnacunnet’s 23.

Max Lalime ended the drive with an 11-yard sweep into the end zone. Boutin would go on to rush for both of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

“We’re going to motion a lot of people. We don’t have any burners, but we’ve got enough guys up front, and we’ve got all pretty solid, straight ahead runners,” Pafford said. “We’re ahead (offensively). We’ve tightened it up, so we don’t have as many plays, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.”