Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PEDRO — The Rock Hill Redmen faced two formidable opponents on Friday.
One was the Portsmouth Trojans and quarterback Drew Roe. The other was, well, the Rock Hill Redmen.
Portsmouth was a tough enough foe to try and beat, but turning the ball over three times in the first quarter proved to be another tough obstacle to overcome.
“We said coming into the game we needed have sustained drives and not turn the ball over,” said Rock Hill coach Mark Lutz.
“The turnovers killed us. We dug ourselves a hole and they are too good of a team to give them those opportunities. They’re physical, they have some good, skilled players and an outstanding quarterback.”
Rock Hill (1-1, 0-1) got an interception from Trent Williams on the second play of the game, but their drive stalled at the Portsmouth 29.
Beau Hammond had suns of 28 and 21 yards to put the Trojans at the 1-yard line where Roe kept the ball for the score.
Zach Roth kicked the conversion and it was 7-0 at the 4:27 mark.
Two plays later the Redmen fumbled and Portsmouth had the ball at the Rock Hill 41.
Roe hit Jayden Duncan for 8 yards and then threw a swing pass to Reade Pendleton who turned it into a 33-yard scoring play and a 14-0 lead with 3:18 on the clock.
In an instant replay, the Redmen fumbled the ball away two plays later and the Trojans had the ball at the 33.
Hammond caught a pass but was dropped for a 6-yard loss. On the next play, Roe ran left to the sideline and appeared trapped, but ran back to the other sideline and hit Dariyonne Bryant who made the catch and ran the rest of the way into the end zone for a 39-yard scoring play and a 21-0 lead with 2:03 left in the first quarter.
A tipped pass was batted around and finally picked up by James Thurman and the Trojans were back in business three plays later at the Portsmouth 49.
It took the Trojans 10 plays to go the distance with Roe keeping on a 10-yard run and a 28-0 lead with 8:46 left in the half.
Rock Hill put together an 80-yard, 13-play drive highlighted by a 25-yard pass from Williams to Kordell French and a 13-yard pass play between the duo.
On third and 4 at the 5-yardl line, Williams hit Owen Hankins for a touchdown and Blake Wilson’s conversion kick cut the deficit to 28-7 with 34 seconds on the clock.
Portsmouth (4-0, 1-0) forced a punt to start the second half and then went 74 yards in just three plays to make it 34-7.
Roe hit Duncan for 8 yards, Hammond ran for 10 and then Roe hit Hammond on a down and out that he turned into a 56-yard scoring pass.
A misplay on an attempted punt gave Portsmouth the ball at the Rock Hill 15-yard line and Roe took care of the scoring dive with runs of 6 and 9 yards and it was 41-7 with just three seconds left on the clock.
Roe finished the game 16-of-24 for 209 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 6 times for 31 yards and three more scores.
Hammond had 92 yards on 8 carries as the Trojans had 136 yards rushing for 363 total yards. Duncan had 7 receptions for 105 yards and a TD.
Hankins led Rock Hill with 68 yards on 20 carries. The Redmen had 76 net yards rushing after losses and 119 total yards.
Portsmouth 21 7 13 0 = 41
Rock Hill 0 7 0 0 = 7
First Quarter
Prt – Drew Roe 1 run (Zach Roth kick) 4:27
Prt – Reade Pendleton 33 pass from Drew Roe (Zach Roth kick) 3:15
Prt – Dariyonne Bryant 33 pass from Drew Roe (Zach Roth kick) 2:03
Second Quarter
Prt – Drew Roe 10 run (Zach Roth kick) 8:46
RH – Owen Hankins 5 pass from Trent Williams (Blake Wilson kick) 0:34
Third Quarter
Prt – Jayden Duncan 56 pass from Drew Roe (kick failed) 8;46
Prt – Drew Roe 9 run (Zach Roth kick) 0:03
——
Prt RH
First downs 13 8
Rushes-yards 21-136 49-76
Passing yards 227 43
Total yards 363 119
Cmp-Att-Int 17-25-1 3-7-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 2-18 1-5
Punts-average 2-28.0 1-30.0
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Portsmouth: Beau Hammond 8-92, Drew Roe 6-31 3 TD, Nick Copley 4-10, Dylan Sanderlin 3-5; Rock Hill: Owen Hankins 20-68, Hunter Blagg 5-3, Skyler Kidd 8-15, Chase Delong 4-18, Kordell French 7-15, Trent Williams 1-minus 10, team 2-minus 30.
PASSING — Portsmouth: Drew Roe 16-24-1 209 3TD, Tyler Duncan 1-1-0 18; Rock Hill: Trent Williams 3-7-1 43 TD.
RECEIVING — Portsmouth: Jayden Duncan 7-105 TD, Dariyonne Bryant 4-56, Reade Pendleton 2-33, Dante Hamrick 1-21, Donovan Carr 1-4, Beau Hammonds 1-minus 6, Devon Lattimore 1-18; Rock Hill: Kordell French 2-38, Owen Hankins 1-5 TD.