September 19, 2009
Goaline stand energizes Tigers
Denssy Portorreal rushed for 114 of his 139 yards in the second half for Memorial.
Click Here for more photos from Marist at Memorial.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
WEST NEW YORK – For the first 19 plays of the game, Marist had marched right down the field on Memorial’s defense. But it only took one play for Tigers to take that momentum away and set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Jonathan Munoz delivered a crucial sack on 4th and goal from the 3-yard line in what would be one of many big plays the Tigers’ defense would deliver in a 20-6 victory over the Royal Knights last night at Coviello Field.
“It was huge keeping somebody out of the end zone (like that) and it’s something we haven’t done really since I’ve been here,” Memorial head coach Brian Meeney said.
Munoz broke free on the fourth down play and threw down Marist quarterback Maurice Dunn for a loss of 11 yards. It was a play that represented not just a change of possession, but a change of attitude for the a Tigers team that had given up 48 points the week before.
“It was great,” Memorial lineman Martin Ojeda said. “It gave us the boost to bring us back up for offense. It got the crowd back up and helped us.”
“Everyone still had that game (last week) on their mind,” running back Denssy Portorreal said. “After we started pushing the ball forward and everything was going well. We started forgetting about it.”
The 6-foot-1, 205 pound Munoz was a disruptive force in the backfield for most of the game. He finished up with three sacks and a forced fumble in the victory.
“He’s a tough kid,” Meeney said. “He’s unbelievably raw, but he’s been coached up now. He’s an athlete. He’s someone who is strong, can run and is pretty smart too. When we get him under control he does good things for us.”
Memorial (1-1) forced three Marist (1-1) turnovers in the game. The first one, a fumble recover by Jermaine Reyes set up Sammy Molina’s 3-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers on the scoreboard.
Portorreal added a 1-yard run to make it 13-0 at the end of the second quarter. Limited to just 25 yards on 13 carries in the opening half, a rejuvenated Portorreal rushed for 114 yards and caught a 17-yard pass in the second half.
Neither a first quarter ankle injury nor the prospect of facing eight or nine Royal Knight defenders in the box seemed to faze the senior runner as he scampered for a 53-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
“We game planned to stop Portorreal,” Marist coach Larry Arico said. “He broke one there for 53 yards and a touchdown. It takes just one mistake (and he’s gone). He’s a strong runner, there’s no doubt about it. He’s their go-to guy.”
Standing at just 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, Portorreal seemed to get stronger as the game went along, averaging six yards per carry in the fourth quarter to finish with 139 yards on 28 carries.
“I’m not going to lie, at first I’m a little bit nervous,” Portorreal said. “But once I start getting a lot of carries I’m just in a zone and the nerves are gone.”
Marist rallied in the third quarter when Dunn connected with Jaime Williams on a 56-yard pass that set up a Jalen Shelton touchdown three plays later. But the Royal Knights’ last comeback hope died when the Tigers’ Martis Ramirez recovered a fumble with just 4:10 left in the game.
“We shot ourselves with penalties,” said Arico, whose team committed 10 penalties for the game. “That was pretty much the story of the game. It’s tough to overcome them.”
Dunn threw for 92 yards on 7-of-15 passing and rushed for 63 yards. Shelton rushed for 53 yards. Memorial quarterback Ariel Soriano was 3-of-6 passing for 51 yards and rushed for 27 yards on five carries.
The Tigers host Dickinson next Friday while the Royal Knights travel to Jersey City for a Saturday meeting with Hudson Catholic.
DE Mike Acosta was a part of a Tiger defense that forced three turnovers in the win.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marist (1-1) | 0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
| Memorial (1-1) | 0 |
13 |
7 |
0 |
20 |
| Mem: Sammy Molina, 5 run (Martin Ojeda kick) | |||||
| Mem: Denssy Portorreal, 1 run (kick failed) | |||||
| Mem: Portorreal, 53 run (Ojeda kick) | |||||
| Mar: Jalen Shelton, 2 run (run failed) | |||||