Carson Simon among new starters helping Portland football add to success

When John Novara glanced at the Portland football team's schedule before the season, the thoughts of going unbeaten didn't cross his mind.It wasn't that he didn't think it was possible.The veteran coach just knew the Raiders entered the season as an inexperienced team with just two returning starters.But players like junior quarterback Carson Simon were determined to help Portland continue to win at a high level, regardless of their limited varsity experience.That's exactly what has happened.Simon has been among the factors for the Raiders, who completed a fourth straight perfect regular season with a 28-24 victory over Hudsonville Unity Christian on Friday, Oct. 23."I just wanted to be part of that and make sure to keep the culture going because Portland is a winning culture," said Simon, who was voted the latest LSJ boys high school athlete of the week. "I just want to be a part of that." Simon has helped add to that culture by contributing to Portland scoring the winning points on their final drive three times this fall .That included connecting with Kehyan Page for the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute in the Week 9 win over Unity Christian. Simon delivered his best passing performance of the season in that game, completing 13-of-15 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns."Carson has been a great quarterback for us," Novara said. "We didn't throw him a lot this year because we're just not that type of team. He's always there when we need him. His completion percentage is off the charts. We really needed him on Friday night and he stepped up in a big way. He throws the ball great. "If he was in a different system he would have all the thousands and thousands of yards that everybody else has. He runs our offense well and just really, really came through on Friday night for us when we needed him the most. He puts the ball on receivers. We don't have the fastest receivers in the world. They struggle at times to get open but he can throw it into really tight windows and get them the ball. He came through huge for us Friday."Friday's game was the most Simon has thrown the ball this season for the Raiders. Simon, whose father Eric was an all-state quarterback at Fowler, has had a strong debut varsity season under center and enters the playoffs having completed 41-of-63 passes for 756 yards and 11 touchdowns. With Portland's offense centered on the ground game, staying ready for the opportunities to throw the ball can be a challenge. But Simon has embraced the situation."I just take advantage of every opportunity I get because you never know when the big play will come," Simon said. "Last game we saw that. At the end of the game we needed big plays and they showed up."Simon is ready to build on the strong ending to the regular season to help Portland as it chases its next goal. The Raiders head into the playoffs looking to capture a sixth straight district title."We're just always fighting until the end," Simon said. "We know what we're capable of and we want to follow the steps of all the good teams that have done it before us." Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Carson Simon among new starters helping Portland football add to success