Jefferson grinds up Grant 36-28 in overtime

Offensive line and running backs Miles, Perkins lead Demos' comeback in PIL upset

By Steve Brandon

The Portland Tribune, Sep 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

L.E. BASKOW / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

Ian Perkins, getting behind Grant defensive back Daunte' Paschal, scored the last two touchdowns and final two-point conversion as Jefferson upended the Generals 36-28 in overtime.

The “little” guys — little based on classifications and enrollments — came up big Friday night in one of the best Portland Interscholastic League football games in years.

The Jefferson Democrats rallied to catch Grant twice and then beat the Generals in overtime for an emotional 36-28 victory at Madison.

“Wow,” Jefferson coach Anthony Stoudamire said after his Class 5A team upended a 6A program at Grant that has become one of the state’s best and a perennial state championship contender.

The Democrats won the nonleague clash by not only matching Grant’s speed and athleticism but also largely by lining up toe-to-toe with the Generals and winning battles in the trenches.

With Marlon Miles slashing inside and cutting outside and fellow running back Ian Perkins pounding the middle, Jefferson was able to play ball-control, for the most part, and even wear down the Generals somewhat.

“Our offensive line is 285 (pounds) all the way across — that’s a big part of our team,” Perkins says.

Grant added to its 21-20 lead with a touchdown late in the third quarter that was set up by a Jefferson miscue. A Grant punt bounced off a Demo, and the Generals recovered at the Jeff 15-yard line. Three plays later, Karl Acker scored on a two-yard run, and soccer player Evan O’Kelly’s kick bumped the Generals’ lead to 28-20.

The Demos came right back with an 80-yard drive in 12 plays, all on the ground. Miles carried seven times, backup fullback E.C. Unga ran once, 6-6 sophomore quarterback Noa Aluesi broke an option play for 14 yards, and Perkins toted the ball three times, scoring on a 20-yard burst.

Perkins seemed to be stopped at the 14-yard line, but his second and third effort got him into the end zone with 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Jefferson still needed a two-point conversion to pull even, and the Demos got with Aluesi pitching to Miles on the option.

The Generals got a golden opportunity to win in regulation. With 2:41 left, Jefferson punter Unga fielded a slightly low snap but tried to run away from the rush and wound up not getting off a kick. That gave Grant the ball at Jefferson’s 18.

But on the next play, the Demos spun Grant quarterback Kenneth Acker around, causing a fumble, and Larry Warren recovered for Jefferson.

The Demos got to the Grant 48 as time ran out, sending the inner-city rivals to OT.

Jefferson stayed with its pounding ground game. Starting from the Grant 25, Miles ran wide for five yards, and then Perkins burst up the middle, bouncing off a would-be tackler, keeping his balance and going all the way for what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Jeff went for two points on the conversion, and the 5-10, 180-pound Perkins, a junior, did it again, keeping his legs churning enough to get across the goal line.

The Demo defense did the rest. On Grant’s first play, the ball popped out of Karl Acker’s hands just as he was going down, and lineman Jacob Mitchell fell on it at the 20, clinching the victory.

The Demos went wild, and wound up going across to the field and in front of their fans, who watched them perform a celebratory Haka dance.

Grant had about three times as many students as Jefferson last year, with nearly 1,600 to slightly more than 500 for the Demos, but the Jeff football program has found enough bodies to compete with just about anyone.

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