Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Portage’s Issac Willinsky (31) and Braedan Oravecz stop Northern Cambria’s Caleb Dolney on Friday night.

PORTAGE — Halftime in the Portage locker room Friday night was not for the faint of heart.

After a mistake-filled first half that put the Mustangs in a 21-14 hole at the break and could have been more but for a Northern Cambria touchdown taken off the board by penalty late in the half, there was a lot that needed to be said.

“At halftime, our kids were down a little, we as a coaching staff said ‘Look. This is your senior night. This is your game. We’ve got kids that wished they were playing that are hurt.” Portage coach Marty Slanoc said. “They really rose up (in the second half). Nothing was easy, but our guys came through and got it done.”

Sophomore Bode Layo put it a different way.

“There was a lot of anger in all of us. We didn’t think we should be losing the game like that. We just came out and took over,” he said.

Portage put together two long drives, all on the ground, starting midway through the third quarter to tie the game and go ahead. Mason Kargo’s 3-yard TD run with 35 seconds left in the game capped the second one and gave the Mustangs a 27-21 victory.

Isaac Jubina closed out a 16-play, 86-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run prior to that to tie the game 21-21. After the Mustangs’ defense quickly forced a punt, Portage marched 65 yards on 12 plays for the game-winning score. The drive was aided by two Northern personal foul penalties one of which turned a potential fourth-and-18 situation into a fourth-and-3 that Portage converted.

“That darn Wing T. We couldn’t get off the field on third down. We talked about that all week. Win third down, and when we did, we shot ourselves in the foot with a penalty,” NC coach Sam Shutty said. “It’s been our MO in these tight games.”

Players of the game: For Portage, Jubina ran for 137 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries before leaving the game in the middle of the game-winning drive with a shoulder injury. For Northern, Owen Bougher completed 23-of-37 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Most of the yardage came in the first half, however, as Portage limited the Colts QB to just 42 yards passing in the second half. Peyton Myers was Bougher’s favorite target, snagging 12 balls for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Plays of the game: Alongside the game-winning score, the defense put Portage on the board first when Bougher fumbled. Braedan Oravecz scooped it up and raced 73 yards down the Northern sideline for the score.

Trailing 14-7 in the second, the Mustangs went for the home run ball on the first play of its possession and connected. Andrew Miko hit Layo, who fought off a defender as he caught the ball, in stride for a 60-yard scoring strike.

“I faked down like I was blocking and went to the corner. I went up and made a play. The offensive held up, and Andrew (Miko) made a great throw,” Layo said.

Costly mistakes: With less than a minute left in the first half, Northern’s Ethan Donatelli intercepted a pass along the Portage sideline and raced 52 yards to the end zone for what could have been a two touchdown lead at half. Northern was flagged for holding, however. The Colts got the ball with at the Portage 42 with 21 seconds left and failed to score.

Earlier in the half, Northern had another TD erased when a holding penalty negated Bougher’s 10-yard scoring pass to Ty Dumm. Northern turned the ball over on the downs, but Portage fumbled it right back. Bougher than hit Myers over the middle for a 10-yard score.

Wild sequence: Myers touchdown catch was the first of three that came within a 54 second span.

Two plays later after, Northern’s defense scored when Ty Dumm ripped the ball away from Isaac Willinsky and raced the other way for a 62-yard score.

That was followed by the Miko-to-Layo bomb on the first play of the ensuing possession.

Unsung heroes: Layo touched the ball once on offense. It went for a touchdown, the 60-yard TD catch in the first half. He also teamed up with Keaton Troxell on a fourth-quarter sack that forced Northern to punt with the game tied 21-21.

Most vital statistics: Penalties and turnovers paint the picture of mistake-filled game. Portage had 10 penalties for 85 yards, and Northern was flagged six times for 74 yards. Northern also fumbled five times, losing two, and Portage had two lost fumbles and threw an interception.

Records: Northern Cambria (6-3), Portage (6-3).

Next week: Northern Cambria plays at Conemaugh Township. Portage visits Windber.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northern Cambria 0 21 0 0 — 21

Portage 0 14 0 13 — 27

Second Quarter

P–Oravecz 73 fumble return (Miko kick), 10:36.

NC–Myers 10 pass from Bougher (kick failed), 5:56.

NC–Dumm 62 fumble return (Myers from Bougher), 5:10.

P–Layo 60 pass from Miko (Miko kick), 5:02.

NC–Dolansky 16 pass from Bougher (Pershing kick), 1:06.

Fourth Quarter

P–Jubina 4 run (Miko kick), 9:53.

P–Kargo 3 run (kick failed), :35.

TEAM STATISTICS NC P

First downs 16 18

Total yards 286 283

Rushes-yards 24-61 29-219

Yards passing 225 64

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 23-37-0 2-6-1

Punts-avg. 2-31.0 3-32.3

Fumbles-lost 5-2 2-2

Penalties-yards 11-85 6-74

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Northern Cambria, Bougher 12-14, Dolansky 2-0, Sheredy 4-27, Paronish 6-20. Portage, Jubina 26-137, Miko 9-22, Smithtro 1-5, Willinsky 7-22, Kargo 6-33.

PASSING–Northern Cambria, Bougher 23-27-0-225. Portage, Miko 2-6-1-64.

RECEIVING–Northern Cambria, Myers 12-121, Dumm 2-15, Paronish 1-8, Dolansky 6-73, Dolney 1-7. Portage, Layo 1-60, Kargo 1-4.