Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — Rusty Webb might want to borrow the title line from The Beatles’ song, “It’s Getting Better All The Time.”
That’s how the Symmes Valley Vikings’ coach was feeling despite a 34-6 Southern Ohio Conference loss to the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans on Saturday night.
“We played better. We had our opportunities early but didn’t take advantage of them and Notre Dame just big-played us,” said Vikings coach Rusty Webb.
“Our kids hung in there and fought the whole way. We showed some mental toughness. We think we took a step in the right direction.”
Payton Hayes recovered a fumble early and the Vikings drove to the 2-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Notre Dame ran two plays for 8 yards and then Sam Kayser bolted 90 yards for a touchdown. Drew Cassidy kicked the conversion and it was 7-0 with 1:24 left in the first quarter.
Kayser had a 35-yard run that set up a 4-yard scoring run by Isiah Johnson as the Titans lead went to 14-0 with 9:44 on the second quarter clock.
Kayser then had a 37-yard run that led to his own 13-yard scoring run and the lead was 21-0 with just 35 seconds left in the half.
The teams exchanged long drives in the third quarter. The Vikings forced a fumble at the 1-yard line but fumbled the ball right back moments later.
Two plays into the fourth quarter Kayser ran 12 yards for a touchdown and the lead was 27-0.
Notre Dame (6-1, 3-1) then got a 52-yard touchdown run by Johnson with 8:14 to go that extended the lead to 34-0.
The Vikings (1-6, 0-4) put together a scoring drive capped by a 6-yard pass from Jordan Lucas to Sam Angelo with one second to play.
Symmes Valley had 143 yards with 78 on the ground. Levi Cade ran seven times for 30 yards.
Lucas was 5-of-9 passing for 65 yards. Angelo had all five receptions.
The Vikings host Manchester on Friday.
Sym. Valley    0    0    0    6    =    6
Notre Dame    7    14    0    13    =    34
First Quarter
ND — Sam Kayser 90 run (Drew Cassidy kick) 1:24
Second Quarter
ND — Isiah Johnson 4 run (Drew Cassidy kick) 9:44
ND —Sam Kayser 13 run (Drew Cassidy kick) 0:35
Fourth Quarter
ND — Sam Kayser 12 run (kick failed) 11: 16
ND — Isiah Johnson 52 run (Drew Cassidy kick) 8:14
SV — Sam Angelo 6 pass from Jordan Lucas (pass failed) 0:01
——
SV    ND
First downs    9    15
Rushes-yard    35-78    41-326
Passing yards    65    30
Total yards    143    356
Passing    5-9-0    1-1-0
Fumbles-lost    1-1    3-3
Penalties-yards    4-45    4-25
Punts-average    3-30.0    0-00.0
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING—SV: Levi Cade 7-30, Evan Holmes 9-19, Payton Hayes 10-16, Jarod Sheppard 5-12, Jordan Lucas 4-1; ND: Sam Kayser 19-208, Isiah Johnson 16-109.
PASSING—SV: Jordan Lucas 5-9-0 65 TD; ND: Drew Cassidy 1-1-0 30.
RECEIVING—SV: Sam Angelo 5-65 TD; ND: Ben Mader 1-30.