SCOTT CITY — It's often said to be difficult to beat a football team twice in the same season.

Just ask the Scott City Rams if that's true.

Junior quarterback Mark Panagos rushed for 322 yards and four touchdowns, while also returning a kickoff 80 yards for a score on Friday night at Scott City High School.

And it still wasn't enough.

Portageville junior running back Jamarion Smith ran for 514 yards and four touchdowns of his own, while classmate Mason Adams added 165 yards and two scores through the air en route to a 38-35 victory and a berth in the Class 1 District 1 championship.

"Jamarion had a big night for us, man," Bulldogs coach Ian Penrod said. "What a whirlwind. It was a fantastic game and we knew it was going to be a hell of a ballgame, it sure was in Week 4 and it just did not go in our favor. This time it did and we're real happy about it."

The Rams struck first on a 38-yard run by Panagos to give the Rams a 7-0 lead. Portageville wasted little time answering, scoring on a 67-yard pass from Adams to Beau-Hunter Warren less than a minute later. The Bulldogs failed on the two-point conversion, so Scott City's lead held for the time being.

Scott City's Mark Panagos carries the ball against Portageville in a Class 1 District 1 semifinal matchup Friday at Scott City High School.Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com

Adams threw another deep ball, this time hitting Carson Bradley for a 42-yard touchdown and finding Thomas Frakes in the end zone for the two-point conversion.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Panagos scored on an 83-yard run, but the Rams' extra point attempt was blocked.

Not to be outdone, Smith rushed the length of the field, going 98 yards with 4:40 remaining in the first half.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Panagos scored his third of five touchdowns on a 58-yard run and completed a two-point conversion pass to Lane Johnston to take a 21-20 lead.

Four minutes later, the Bulldogs marched down the field and Smith scored from six yards out. Adams' two-point pass attempt was picked off by Luke Holder, however, and Portageville led 26-21.

On the very next play, Panagos returned a kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, and four minutes later scored again on an 80-yard run to give Scott City a two-score lead.

Smith answered yet again, scoring on an 89-yard run to cut into the Rams' lead, and scored the final touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter to take a 38-35 lead.

"Jamarion shows up and he works his rear end off," Penrod said. "That kid is a straight-up grinder. He's a worker. From January to the end of the summer we had 74 workouts, and Jamarion was at 72."

With time running out, Scott City was able to stop the Bulldogs with 1:48 left in the game when Panagos picked off Smith on a running back pass. The Rams took over on their own 37, but Panagos was injured on a sack during the drive.

Senior Devin Keller came into the game and was intercepted by Smith on a deep passing attempt to seal the game.

"It's huge to be able to get the Scott City monkey off our back," Penrod said. "I've been at Portageville for three years and there are only two other teams we hadn't beaten at this point, Scott City and New Madrid. We have to wait another year for a chance at New Madrid, but we got our chance against Scott City and we were able to get that monkey off our back."

Despite his team's loss, Rams coach Jim May was proud of his team's success this season.

"We knew coming in we had to play our best and we didn't," May said. "There were too many big plays, but it was two good teams slugging it out and it's sad to see it end. We've got a great group of seniors that are going to be missed, but they brought home our first conference title in a long time and they had a very successful season."

May also praised Panagos for putting the team on his back.

"He's a very special player and he played really hard," May said. "He did a great job for us tonight and that's all you can do. You just tip your hat and move on. You hate to see an effort like that go to waste, but that's just the way it goes."

With the victory, Portageville (9-2) will host Charleston — which beat top-seeded St. Vincent 42-21 — in the Class 1 District 1 championship game. The Bulldogs beat the Blue Jays 34-28 earlier in the season.

"My kids swear up and down they were the most physical team we played all year," Penrod said. "That's something we've got to get prepared for. They're big as hell up front, they've got speed out the wazooo and we're going to have to execute."

The Rams finish their season with a 9-2 record and will lose 16 seniors to graduation.

"They've given me everything they had for four years. That's all you can ask for as a coach," May said. "I love these guys and I'll do anything for them. They're going to be sorely missed."