South Portland 7

Windham 10

When the South Portland Red Riots and the Windham Eagles lined up in Windham Friday night, heavy rains promised an old-fashioned sloppy football game.

Thanks to diligent work from Windham’s groundskeeper, the field held up well in the rain, keeping the mud at bay, but the rain certainly played a factor in the low-scoring game, which the Eagles pulled out with a fourth quarter touchdown for a 10-7 victory.

Considering the rainy conditions, which generally dictate keeping the ball on the ground, the Riots surprisingly opened the game in the air, with quarterback David Hardison hitting Mike Foley with a 12-yard pass to start out. But just two plays later, Hardison was unable to hold onto the snap, and Windham’s James Tocher jumped on the ball at the Riots’ 40 to set up the Eagles in prime field position with 11:23 left in the first quarter.

Windham then began a ground attack featuring back Jack Mallis that moved the ball to the Riots’ 26, but the drive was cut short when Eagles’ quarterback Jackson Taylor fumbled a fourth-down snap and was forced to fall on it, turning the ball over on downs.

The two early fumbles were part of a trend that would plague both teams all game, as the heavy rain made the ball slick and hard to hold on to.

However, the next South Portland drive didn’t end with a fumble, it ended with an interception. After the Riots moved the ball to the Eagles’ 22 behind the running of Hardison and back Ryan Curtit, Hardison attempted to throw the ball deep and his pass was picked off by a leaping David Ingraham that gave the Eagles the ball at their own 12.

But the Eagles were unable to score on that possession and the first quarter ended in a scoreless tie.

Both teams battled the elements throughout the second quarter, with neither team able to mount a serious touchdown threat for much of the period, until Windham got the ball back after stopping the Riots on a fourth down play from the Eagles’ 29 with 6:05 left in the half.

The Eagles resumed their ground attack with Taylor breaking off a big 11-yard run on first down. That run was followed by a steady dose of Mallis, who had 35 yards on the ground in the drive. The Eagles got the ball as far as the South Portland 5, but Taylor fumbled a snap on third down and was forced to fall on the ball at the Riots’ 9. Facing fourth down and wanting to come away with some points, Windham coach Matt Perkins sent Tyler Littlefield in to attempt the 26-yard field goal with 1:21 left in the half. Littlefield’s kick split the uprights and Windham went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.

It didn’t take the Riots long to respond. After Windham was unable to get a first down on the first possession of the second half, the Eagles punted from their own 26.

What happened next brought the hardy fans who traveled through the downpour to Windham from South Portland to their feet.

Foley took the punt from his own 36 and evaded the Riots coverage team, causing two tacklers to miss as he sprinted down the middle for a 64-yard touchdown return. Matt Hebert added the extra point, and with 10:30 left in the third, the Riots were on top 7-3.

After the excitement of the punt return, the two teams settled back into a slugfest, with both the Eagles and the Riots keeping the ball on the ground as the conditions deteriorated.

Windham got a big break with 9:02 left in the fourth when they were able to recover a fumble on a punt, taking over at the Riots’ 16. But they were unable to take advantage and narrowly dodged a bullet when Curtit picked off a Taylor pass and appeared to take it back 97 yards for a touchdown, but a flag for an illegal block in the back on the Riots negated the score, but the interception stood and the Riots took over on their own 5.

The Riots were unable to move the ball at all on the drive, going three and out and punting the ball from their own 6.

Taking over from the South Portland 34, it didn’t take the Eagles long to take advantage. On the second play of the drive from the Riots’ 29, Mallis took a handoff from Taylor and found a good-sized hole in the line and burst through for a touchdown with 3:33 left in the game. Littlefield added the extra point and the Eagles held on for the 10-7 win.

The loss moved the Riots to 0-4 on the season. This Saturday afternoon South Portland returns home to host Biddeford in a 3 p.m. game, a game that was rescheduled from its original Friday night date. The 2-2 Tigers come into the game off a 28-7 win over Sanford on Monday night after rain wiped out the Tigers’ game Friday night.

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