Fort Vancouver head coach Steve Broussard wasted little time in pointing to the turnover battle — which his team won 6-2.
“Our defense played their butts off,” Broussard said.
The Techmen, however, managed to outlast an otherwise strong overall effort from Fort’s defense by taking the scoring matters into their own hands — which they only needed to do once — to highlight an 18-0 shutout in Portland.
Down just one score in the final minutes of the third quarter, Trapper quarterback Devyn Turner lost the football on an apparent broken play, as two of this own teammates tried to take a handoff from out of the shotgun formation. Benson’s Daviar Wexler took the high-bouncing loose ball in stride for a 35-yard score.
“Our kids fought hard,” Broussard said. “We had to keep reminding them to finish playing it. These are growing pains.”
Anthony Wilhite secured two interceptions for the Trappers, while Zeke Block, Joey Endonino, Shawn Mintah and Rickie Williams each accounted for one turnover themselves. Nehemiah Polk-Rasheed and Zjieon Lawrence made plays in the trenches and defensive backfield throughout the evening.
While the Trapper offense struggled mightily in the second half alone-surrendering four sacks, turning the ball over deep in Benson territory and moving the chains just twice — Broussard acknowledged that his freshman quarterback showed him something.
“He has intangibles and moxie,” Broussard said.
The Fort program took the field with heavy hearts Friday, as teammate Dmitriy Deynega died Wednesday night in a vehicle accident.
“A lot of kids on this team had a good relationship with him,” Broussard said.
Deynega was recognized in pregame by team captains, as they carried his No. 79 jersey to the coin toss before reserving a place for it on the team’s bench.
BENSON 18, FORT VANCOUVER 0
Fort 0 0 0 0– 0
Benson 0 0 12 6–18
Third quarter
B — Seven Antoine 17 pass from Jaylen Russell (kick blocked)
B — Daviar Wexler 35 fumble return (pass failed)
Fourth quarter
B — Michael Morgan 3 run (kick blocked)
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Fort, Williams 15-17, Myron Lawrence 3-8, Anthony Wilhite 1-1, Devyn Turner 9-(minus-18).
PASSING — Fort, Turner 5-20-1-19.
RECEIVING — Fort, Williams 2-3, Angel Gonzalez 1-18, Nehemiah Polk-Rasheed 1-6, Wilhite 1-(minus-8).
