Portell powers Flyers to big win
Paul Kopsky/STLtoday Prep Sports | Lindbergh's Kyle Portell (left) tries to fend of a tackle attempt by Lafayette's Jacob Ripp.
CRESTWOOD — Lindbergh quarterback Kyle Portell has given many defenses headaches throughout his football career. On Friday night, he added Lafayette to the list.
Portell passed for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns to lead Lindbergh to a 38-14 win. In a span between the second and fourth quarters, Portell led Lindbergh’s offense to scores on five of six possessions to put the game away.
“He’s a player,” Lindbergh coach Tom Beauchamp said. “His granddad is one of our coaches. He’s been around football his whole life. He’s one of those kids who’s a gym rat and he’s playing like he knows what’s going on.”
Portell gave the credit to his teammates.
“Our receivers and our O-line really worked hard,” Portell said. “Our receivers are starting to catch the ball and we’re really getting into a groove.”
Lindbergh (5-0 overall, 3-0 in the Suburban West) found its groove midway through the second quarter as an Eric Schwartz 4-yard touchdown run tied the game at 14-14. After stopping Lafayette on its next drive, Lindbergh ended the half with a 2-yard run by Portell for a 21-14 lead.
The Flyers dominated the second half. Portell found Connor Jones for a 22-yard touchdown pass in the third and Portell scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth to make it 35-14. Schwartz’s 39-yard field goal capped the scoring.
Lindbergh’s defense took hold after a sluggish start. The Flyers forced three Lafayette turnovers and kept the Lancers off the board for the game’s final 35:54.
“I thought the kids kept playing steady,” Beauchamp said. “No matter what happened, they didn’t hang their heads.”
The teams spent most of the first half trading touchdowns.
Lafayette (3-2, 1-2) started the scoring with an 84-yard touchdown run by Kyle Green on its first play from scrimmage to make it 7-0.
Lindbergh responded on its next drive with Portell’s 7-yard touchdown run. Portell’s run capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive.
The drive was especially costly for Lafayette, which lost linebacker Alex Caito, the returning Suburban West Conference defensive player of the year, to a leg injury. He didn’t return and spent the rest of the game with his left knee iced on the bench.
Lafayette reclaimed the lead on the first play of the second quarter with a Green 20-yard touchdown catch from J.T. Miller to make it 14-7. But Lindbergh outscored Lafayette 31-0 the rest of the way.
