By Kenton Brooks

Phoenix Sports Writer

PORTER — Leading by ten with 10:46 left in the game after an interception return for a touchdown by Austin Taber, Porter was thinking about holding Copan.

Tyler Shull and the Hornets had other thoughts.

Shull, Copan’s 6-foot, 185-pound senior tailback, scored twice in the last 10 minutes as the Hornets scored 26 unanswered points en route to the 52-36 victory in the District B-4 showdown for the league title at Pirate Stadium on Friday night.

Porter, ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press state poll this week, dropped to 7-1 and 5-1 and still has a solid chance to host a playoff game if it wins its last two games. Unranked Copan is 8-0 and 6-0 in clinching the district championship.

“The interception was big. I don’t know if we thought we had the game won, but (Copan) didn’t quit,” Porter coach Ron Coppedge said. “They didn’t lay down.”

Shull was upright, scoring on a 26-yard run with 4:18 left in the game to push Copan’s lead to 38-36. He dashed 57 yards for his second TD in the final 10 minutes and fourth of the game with 45.7 seconds left in the game.

He finished with 188 yards on 19 carries, also scoring on runs of two and 10 yards.

“He’s a good kid and very good back,” Coppedge said. “We knew coming in here that he was good. They had a little more speed than we anticipated.”

Copan quarterback Preston Bartley also got into the scoring act, running for two touchdowns and throwing for a 31-yard TD. The TD pass came in that four-touchdown barrage after the Pirates held the 10-point lead in the fourth period. Colby Bonham had a one-yard TD plung during that late scoring surge by the Hornets.

Bartley had 80 yards rushing and completed 12 of 27 passes for 156 yards.

Porter had a scoring barrage of its own, overcoming a 26-14 deficit with three straight touchdowns in the third quarter and early in the fourth period.

Austin Taber’s 37-yard interception return for a touchdown increased the Pirates’ lead to 36-26 with 10:46 left in the game.