Porvoon Butchers roll past East City Giants 48-10

The Porvoon Butchers improved to 5-2 and kept themselves firmly in the Finnish Maple League playoff race Friday with a convincing 48-10 home victory over the East City Giants, who fell to 2-7.

The first meeting between the teams was a completely different story, with the Butchers escaping with a 34-32 win in late June. This time, Porvoon took control early, built a 41-7 halftime lead and never gave the Giants an opportunity to make things interesting.

Butchers take charge early

Coming off a two-week break, the Butchers looked refreshed on both sides of the ball and snapped a two-game home losing streak in emphatic fashion.

Quarterback Donovan Isom was sharp, completing 14 of 21 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns as Porvoon repeatedly found ways to move the ball. Christian Powell gave the offense another dimension, rushing for 111 yards and two touchdowns while also leading the Butchers with five receptions for 44 yards and another score.

Newcomer Keith Coffee made an immediate impact in his Porvoon debut, scoring two touchdowns and earning player-of-the-game honors.

The 48-point performance showed just how dangerous the Butchers can be as they head into the closing stretch of the regular season.

Defense overwhelms Giants

The Porvoon defense was just as impressive.

Dal’Mont Gourdine recorded four sacks as the Butchers repeatedly got to East City quarterback Norman Douglas. Kaapo Viuha added two interceptions, while Rassie Littlejohn caused havoc on special teams by blocking two punts.

Douglas was sacked six times, continuing a difficult stretch in which he has gone down 20 times over the past three games.

The Giants also struggled to establish anything on the ground, finishing with only 19 rushing yards. Their season average has now dropped to 40 rushing yards per game, the lowest mark in the Maple League.

Porvoon stays in the hunt

The victory moved the Butchers to 5-2 and kept them in contention for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

After a pair of home defeats, Porvoon responded with one of its most complete performances of the season at exactly the right time.

For the Giants, the loss ended their remaining mathematical hopes of reaching the postseason. East City will close its season at home against the Wasa Royals on August 29.