Photo by Kim North Barnesville’s Christien Hannahs (56) causes Portsmouth’s Fernando Poxes (10) to fumble in the first quarter Friday night during their Ohio Division V, Region 19 quarterfinal playoff game at Shamrock Stadium. The Shamrocks’ Phoenix Graham eventually recovered the loose ball as Barnesville cruised 34-0. Barnesville’s Hines Ford (8) is also pictured.

BARNESVILLE — After giving up 21 second-half points in a (42-21) loss to Independence in week 8 at Marietta College’s Don Drumm Stadium, the Barnesville defense wasn’t pleased with its performance. However, following back-to-back 34-0 shutouts there are a lot of smiling faces in western Belmont County.

The second blanking came Friday night in an Ohio Division V, Region 19 quarterfinal playoff game at Shamrock Stadium against visiting No. 5 Portsmouth (8-4). With the win, the Shamrocks (9-2) will travel to top-ranked Wheelersburg (11-0) next Friday with a berth in the regional finals on the line. The Pirates, who dispatched Morgan 43-3 last night, have ended Barnesville’s season each of the last three years.

“I’m really proud of the guys. Having that bye week, you never know, but the kids stayed focused last week, were mentally prepared and stayed sharp,” Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said. “We worked on a lot of stuff last week, and it showed.”

The defense held the Trojans to 144 yards, which was four less than they racked up on an eye-popping 15 penalties. Linebackers Hines Ford and Logan Craker roamed sideline-to-sideline in making plays, while the front four held the Portsmouth running game to 55 yards on 27 carries.

“I’m extremely proud of the way we played on defense,” Allen continued. “We had a bad defensive performance and gave up a lot of points to a good Independence team, but we responded with two shutouts against two very good offensive teams.”

Barnesville scored on its first five possessions in dominating the game from the opening coin toss. It went 70 yards on five plays with the opening kickoff as Trey Toliver danced his way through the Trojans defense from 14 yards out for the first of his three TD runs. Luis Garcia was perfect on the first of his four PATs for a 7-0 lead.

A 46-yard completion from Cole Francis to Jake Detling sparked the drive.

Portsmouth, which was its own worst enemy most of the night, fumbled on its fourth snap as Christien Hannahs and Hines Ford jarred the ball loose and Phoenix Graham recovered at the Trojan 46.

Nine plays later, Toliver took a pitch left and found the end zone from 5 yards out. Garcia made it 14-0. Francis connected with Graham for 20 yards on first down. A 15-yard personal foul penalty — one of several against Portsmouth — aided the TD march.

After forcing a punt, fullback Koby Jones took a handoff from Francis to the house from 59 yards. It was Jones’ only carry of the game. The try for two failed, making it 20-0 with 1:28 left in the opening quarter.

Toliver capped Barnesville’s fourth series of plays with a 12-yard burst behind left guard Braxton Byers and left tackle Max Cacioppo. Garcia’s kick upped the count to 27-0.

Backup quarterback Evan Wells, who had seven carries for 46 yards, capped the scoring with a 15-yard dash off the right side behind guard Dillon Lucas and tackle Gavin Morris.

Toliver finished with 12 carries for 102 yards and the three scores as the Shamrocks totalled 199 and all five TDs on the ground. Francis was 7-of-8 for 82 yards and Detling caught two passes for 44.

Allen was also pleased that his kids didn’t respond to all of the shenanigans that Portsmouth displayed.

“I told them at the half that the thing I was more proud of other than the score, was the fact that we kept our composure and took care of business.”

On playing Wheelersburg, Allen said, “the only difference between this year and the last three is we have to go there. We’re one of the last 16 Division V teams in the state and we are playing the top seed for a right to play for the regional finals. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. We’re very excited about the opportunity.”