Turnovers doom Port football team
The football season got off to a bit of a slow start for Port Washington High School last Friday.
The Pirates tallied 16 net yards and two turnovers on their first four possessions at North Shore Conference opponent West Bend East in a 21-7 defeat.
“We were shaking the runs off of some people,” coach John Bunyan said.
The Pirates gave up a 49-yard touchdown run to Brady Schmidt in the first quarter and a 34-yard scoring pass from Dawson Rondorf to Caden Gish in the second. Schmidt caught a 29-yard touchdown pass in the third.
“We ran into a very good quarterback who scrambled all over the place,” Bunyan said. “On the two touchdown (passes), he was scrambling all over. We had him and he avoided us and extended some plays.”
Port only has two returning players on defense and has sophomores on the defensive line. Overpursuing was the culprit on the long touchdown run, Bunyan said.
“Our young group got better as time went on,” he said.
Offensively, senior quarterback Ethan Baierl, who started a handful of games last season when his older brother Adam was injured, went 16-for-28 for 162 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Port finally got on the board in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard pass to Mitchell Niemeyer.
“It’s his first game of the year and getting used to the offensive line and his system itself,” Bunyan said of Baierl.
After netting less than 100 yards of offense in the first half, the Pirates put themselves in position to score on their first drive of the second half, driving 57 yards to the Suns’ 12 before an interception, one of three Port turnovers.
“Overall, I was really pleased with the game. We’re not going to win football games when committing three turnovers,” Bunyan said. “I think it’s a real good learning experience. I think we’re going to be OK.”
Of Port’s 61 offensive plays, 28 were passes. Bunyan said he would like to knock that down to about 15. The Pirates were forced to throw because they were behind.
The Pirates were without junior running back Nathan Kasdorf, who was slated to get the bulk of the carries this season. He injured his arm falling into the end zone during Port’s scrimmage a couple of weeks ago and is expected to miss a month.
Senior Nolan Makoutz filled in and ran 26 times for 98 yards.
“Makoutz played well for his first time doing it,” Bunyan said.
Michael Bunyan caught four balls for 51 yards and Dylan Niehoff five balls for 51 yards. Niemeyer had five grabs for 49 yards. Patrick Lippe had two catches for 11 yards. Bunyan said his team had no drops.
For the Suns, Schmidt ran 20 times for 127 yards and a score. Rondorf ran for 50 yards on eight carries and went 10 for 26 passing for 179 yards. Gish caught four balls for 79 yards and a score. Schmidt caught three balls for 52 yards and a touchdown.
The Suns beat the Pirates, 35-26, last season and in 2017.
On Friday, Port heads to NSC foe Slinger, which lost, 21-14, at Hartford. Port lost at Slinger last season, 37-18.
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