PORTER — There were no overtimes this year. But there were still thoughts of previous heartbreaking losses. And this time, history did not repeat itself.

Porter’s Marcus Scarborough rushed for 289 yards and three touchdowns as the fourth-ranked Pirates held off a late rally to defeat Weleetka, 38-28, Friday night in the first round of the Class B playoffs.

“Our kids stepped it up when they had to,” said Pirate coach Ron Coppedge. “Weleetka is probably the best fourth-place team in the state. They ran some things defensively that we hadn’t prepared for, and it was tough.”

The win was Porter’s first playoff win in eight attempts. Porter will host No. 2 Canton, a 61-14 winner over Alex, in next week’s second-round game.

Porter dominated the game for three quarters, and with just over five minutes left held a 30-12 lead with the ball at the Weleetka 11-yard line. But three turnovers later, Porter found itself one score away from another first-round loss.

“All I could think of was last year’s Copan game,” said Coppedge, speaking of last year’s district championship game. “We took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter and lost by 16. I just thought ‘This can’t be happening again.’”

Weleetka had cut the Pirates lead to 30-28 with 4:48 remaining and seemingly had the momentum.

Then Coppedge took a gamble and it paid off.

Erik Ridgway recovered an onside kick attempt and then carried the ball three straight times to give Porter a second-and-one at the Outlaw 32. Scarborough then found Derrick Myers wide open for a 32-yard touchdown pass that gave Porter a 38-28 advantage after Ridgway’s two-point run.

“I knew they only had one timeout left,” Coppedge said. “I thought the worst that could happen would be an interception deep in their end of the field, or we come back for a third-and-one, and surely we could get one yard. But the tight end read it right.”

The Pirates weren’t out of the woods yet though as Michael Giles, who returned a kickoff earlier for a score, returned another 83 yards to the Pirate 12. Porter’s defense only allowed six yards on the drive and broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone.

“I just tried to be a team captain and get my teammates to keep their composure during that,” Scarborough said. “I could see a little panic and I just told them to keep calm and get to the next play.”

Scarborough came up with several big plays on the ground. His 53-yard run set up Ridgway’s 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Scarborough then scampered 74 yards as the Pirates took a 16-0 lead.

Porter lead 22-12 at halftime and took control of the game on Scarborough’s 71-yard run to give the Pirates a 30-12 lead with 7:49 remaining in the third.

The Pirates' defense held Weleetka to just 40 total yards in the first half. Jacob Richardson had two interceptions and a fumble recovery to aid the defensive effort.