Game 1
Portville 36 Maple Grove 18
Friday Sept. 3 7:30 pm
Panthers Begin Season With Hot Victory
The summer humidity tried to put a cramp in the season opener for Portville's football team,
but the Panthers responded with a convincing win over the Red Dragons of Maple Grove. A 22-point second quarter did
the trick, as the home unit blistered the Class D powerhouse from Chautauqua County, 36-18.
Six minutes into the first quarter, junior RB Joe Holcomb scored the first touchdown of
the 2004 campaign, willing his way into the house from 12 yards out. Holcomb followed the TD up with a sweet
extra-point catch delivered by QB Brian Nitsche to the very edge of the endzone. Maple Grove scored the next six, but
their 2-point conversion attempt failed.
During the 2nd quarter, PCS scored 3 touchdowns within a span of six minutes, essentially putting
the game away by half-time. Alex Woodhead scampered for a 46-yard TD to start things off. Four minutes later,
Nitsche hit Kirk Austin on a 64-yard pass strike for paydirt. With 3:23 left, Holcomb ran it in from the 24. Nitsche
also contributed two remarkable 2-point conversions, and Portville was up 30-6.
Matt Miller dominated on defense, as did Portville's bookends, Eric Caya and Brad Holcomb.
Maple Grove's potent offense was kept in check for 218 total yards, while PCS amassed 270 yards rushing and 124 yards through
the air. Maple Grove lost 3 fumbles and Portville was penalized 11 times.
Woodhead scored the final Panther TD, a 24-yard run that gave the junior 112 yards for the game.
Holcomb had 15 carries for 99 yards, while Nitsche completed 5 of 11 passes. Josh Haynes and Jarid Lowe were all over
the field, and the Portville reserves had plenty of opportunities to play.
Stay tuned for Game Pix
OTHER LOCAL AND LEAGUE SCORES:
Salamanca 12 Fredonia 6 OT
Randolph 42 Alle-Lime 0
Catt-LV 42 West Valley 0
JFK 25 Cheektowaga 13
Alden 54 Roy-Hart 0
Southwestern 13 Falconer 12
Gowanda 13 Eden 0
Rivalry began in 1985
Series Tied: 5-5
1985 Portville 26 Maple Grove 6
1986 Portville 19 Maple Grove
8
1987 Maple Grove 8 Portville 6
1988 Maple Grove 14 Portville
8
1999 Maple Grove 20 Portville 14
2000 Maple Grove 32 Portville
26
2001 Portville 32 Maple Grove 7
2002 Maple Grove 14 Portville
11
2003 Portville 20 Maple Grove 0
2004 Portville 36 Maple Grove
18
