Portland cleaned up its mistakes in the second half and rolled to a 33-0 win against Edward Little in a Class A North football game Saturday night at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

George Chaisson-Lapine and Joe Esposito combined for more than 200 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns apiece as the Bulldogs improved to 2-0.

Still, it took Portland nearly three quarters to get untracked offensively.

Because of penalties, the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on excellent field position in the first half, when most of their possessions started in Edward Little territory. Portland committed nine penalties in the first half.

“They were doing something up front that we didn’t recognize,” Portland Coach Jim Hartman said. “They were just flying to the outside, so we just ran everything up the middle. Once we figured out what they were doing up front, it was just boom, boom, boom.”

Esposito, who rushed for 97 yards on 17 carries, put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0 less than four minutes into the game when he slanted left 5 yards for a touchdown. The score came three plays after Issiah Bachelder recovered a fumble at the EL 12.

The Bulldogs didn’t score their second touchdown until nearly seven minutes had elapsed in the third quarter.

Chaisson-Lapine, who gained 115 yards on 18 carries, went 12 yards up the middle for a touchdown that capped a six-play, 52-yard drive. He scampered 22 yards on the play before his touchdown, which made it 14-0.

“When we were in the locker room (at halftime), we were hard on ourselves,” Esposito said. “It’s all about your head. We knew we were killing ourselves.

“If you keep your head in the game, it’s a big part of winning.”

The Bulldogs put the game away by scoring three touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter.

Portland stopped Edward Little (1-1) on downs at the EL 25 late in the third quarter. Less than a minute into the fourth, Chaisson-Lapine bulled his way into the end zone from the 10 to make it 20-0.

A minute later, Jake Knop intercepted a pass and ran 85 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

Esposito went 2 yards up the middle for the final touchdown with four minutes remaining, ending a 10-play, 76-yard drive.

The Portland defense played well the entire game. It limited the Red Eddies to seven first downs and 109 yards.

Poor field position hampered Edward Little in the first half. Three of its six possessions began inside the 10.

“If you’re trying to get something moving and you’re working from your own goalposts, it’s a hard to thing to do,” Edward Little Coach Dave Sterling said.

“We saw some people in the right spots. We’ve just got to perform better in the coming weeks.”

The Bulldogs had opportunities to add to their lead in the first half.

Early in the second quarter, John Williams’ 30-yard field-goal attempt was just wide to the left.

Later in the quarter, Nick Archambault blocked a punt at the EL 11, but a holding penalty and an illegal procedure call quickly took the Bulldogs out of the red zone, and a fumble cost them possession.