Portage Area (Part 1) – Will anybody slow the Mustangs down?

It’s been three weeks. Three opponents up, three opponents down. All fell by margins greater than 30 points. It begs the question: is there anybody in District 6 that will slow down Portage’s offense?

Bishop McCort proved in last year’s district title game that it could be done, and Purchase Line kept the Mustangs in the 20s last year in a loss, but really, no other teams have come close.

During its 2008 regular season, nine games total, Portage scored 439 points, nearly 49 points per game. Only Chesnut Ridge held Portage below 40 points in that span.

This year, the Mustangs are off to a rocket-fast start, having scored 162 points – the top total in the state. At their current pace (54 points per game), Portage could score 486 points through nine weeks.

Entering Week 13 (the weekend of the D6 “A” title game), that pace could put Portage at 648 points, which would establish a new team scoring record in District 6. That mark is currently owned by the 1998 Huntingdon Area Bearcats, who scored 623 points en route to a berth in the PIAA “AAA” semifinals. The ’98 Bearcats led the state in scoring average per game.

Portage Area (Part 2) – Look out, Fred Stoicheff

First, for those of you wondering who Fred Stoicheff is, he was a former running back for Lewistown High School in the middle and late 1950s. He ran for over 1,700 career yards in his three-year varsity career.

Here’s how Stoicheff relates to Portage – albeit, indirectly, at best: During the 1957 season, Stoicheff set what is known today as the state record for average yards per carry in a season, 14.52. He totaled 929 yards on 64 carries that season, according to the Pennsylvania Football News’ Resource Guide.

Portage senior running back Mike Sinosky, through three weeks of the football season, is giving Stoicheff’s record a good run for its money. The Mustang fullback has totaled 457 yards on just 28 carries thus far, an average of 16.32 yards per carry.

Sinosky has run for 3,497 career yards, but he comes nowhere close to Stoicheff’s career yards per carry average of 12.85. Sinosky’s career average per carry, to date, checks in at 8.5 yards.

Moshannon Valley – Good enough to go toe-to-toe with Bellwood-Antis?

Moshannon Valley had one of its best seasons last season, winning nine games and finishing with a short run in the District 6 “A” playoffs. But the Knights’ otherwise spotless season was marred by two losses – both to Bellwood Antis – by a combined margin of 57-7.

Thus far, Moshannon Valley has gotten off to an unbeaten start for the second straight year, topping Juniata Valley last weekend, 42-22. In the last two seasons, the Knights have outscored the Hornets a combined 91-28.

But every team, it seems, has a nemesis. Is this the Moshannon Valley team that will knock off the Blue Devils? We’ll find out in a few weeks time.

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