Issiah Bachelder made the passes and Joe Esposito made the plays as Portland High romped to a 31-0 win over South Portland on Friday night at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Bachelder threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Esposito caught two of the scoring passes for a total of 111 yards. He also returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown, while rushing for 67 yards.
John Williams made the other touchdown reception, while also kicking a field goal and four extra points.
Portland (8-0) finished as the only unbeaten Class A team in the state. The Bulldogs will get a bye in next week’s playoffs as the North’s No. 1 seed. South Portland (2-6) lost its sixth straight and will be the No. 6 seed in next weekend’s South playoffs.
Friday marked the 100th game in this “Battle of the Bridge” series. The Bulldogs have now won three straight over South Portland, but the Red Riots still hold the overall edge, 54-43-3.
With both teams sticking to the ground game, the first quarter flew by with the score 0-0.
On Portland’s second drive, the Bulldogs marched 53 yards to the South Portland 12. From there Williams booted a 29-yard field goal.
After a three-and-out by the Red Riots, Portland set up at midfield. On first down, Bachelder tossed a swing pass to Esposito, who sprinted down the right sidelines and then cut left for a last gallop into the end zone for a 10-0 lead with 7:08 left in the half.
While South Portland could not generate offense, Portland could not pull away. The Bulldogs recovered a fumble at the Red Riots 25 with 13 seconds left. Williams tried a 42-yard field goal, but it was wide left.
Portland did pull away in the second half. On the Bulldogs’ second play, Bachelder rolled out, drawing the defense, and leaving Esposito open for a 61-yard touchdown reception.
South Portland’s one offensive surge came in the fourth quarter, with Portland up 24-0. Fueled by a 45-yard screen pass from Matt Crockett to Spencer Houlette, the Red Riots reached the Bulldogs 15. But a South Portland pass was deflected and Esposito snagged it and raced up the left sideline for the score, with 5:44 left in the game.
Portland has outscored its foes 158-0 in its last three games.
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