PULASKI — The Bay Port Pirates (7-2) dominated both sides of the ball Friday night, shutting out the Pulaski Red Raiders (6-3) 42-0 in their regular season finale on Oct. 17.
“I’m proud we came out and handled business,” said Bay Port Head Coach Steven Jorgensen. “We put up the points we wanted to. Honestly, I thought we weren’t as efficient as we wanted to be. We put the ball on the ground a few times, we had a few—way too many penalties, we’ll clean that up though. We know that come playoff time, we can’t have those mistakes.”
The Pirates struck early on their first drive as quarterback Matt Stevens connected with Casey Jacobson for a 9 yard touchdown. Running Back Brady Moon set up the score with a series of explosive rushes, including runs of 22 and 17 yards.
Bay Port’s defense quickly forced a turnover on downs before Moon broke free for a 39 yard gain, setting up Stevens 2 yard keeper for the second touchdown of the night. Moon continued his dominance with a 22 yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, extending the lead to 21-0.
Moments later, linebacker Rex Helms intercepted Pulaski’s quarterback and returned it to the 16-yard line. Moon capitalized once again with an 8 yard touchdown to give the Pirates a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.
“Our defense needed a kind of statement win,” said Jorgensen. “Pulaski’s been scoring 40, 50 points the last few weeks. Our D was fast tonight. They played confident, I thought our communication was great, so I was very pleased.”
In the second half, Pulaski’s defense held strong on fourth down, stopping the Pirates to open the half, but the Pirates defense continued to apply pressure. Mikey Jones intercepted another Pulaski pass early in the fourth quarter, with Bay Port adding two more touchdowns to close the game at 42-0.
Stevens led the offensive charge with 150 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one rushing score along with Brady Moon’s 3 rushing touchdowns. When asked what the key to breaking down the Pulaski defense was, Stevens said, “Just the preparation for this week. We worked really hard.” He added, “My guys, they just helped me out. I just try to do the best I can, they get open for me. And my O-line, gotta give credit to them.”
As the playoffs approach, Jorgensen said the focus is simple: “We’re going to clean up the penalties. We can’t turn the ball over, and we’ve got to turn them over. If we do that, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Both the Pirates and Red Raiders will begin the WIAA Playoffs next week, with opponents yet to be determined.
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