A 7-yard touchdown run from Portsmouth’s John Roche early in the third quarter broke a scoreless tie, and the Patriots rolled from there, getting touchdowns from five different players in the second half to down Cranston West in its league opener, 34-0.

West had its chances to strike early.

The Falcons’ defense produced three first-half turnovers, including fumble recoveries by Chris Ohsberg and Kyle Hammond in the first quarter and an interception by Will Such on the final play of the first half.

But the offense failed to turn those first-quarter opportunities into points, and that undoubtedly hurt as the game wore on.

“It hurt,” West head coach Steve Stoehr said of his offense’s inability to capitalize on those turnovers. “We have to score. We don’t have any backs that want to be in the end zone all the time. Unfortunately, [Nick Dionizio] got hurt. But even before that, people were dropping passes on him. He had a couple of big throws, they hit the chest of the receivers and they dropped it. We’ll keep working. It’s a young team and we’ll get better.”

Other than those forced turnovers in the first half, the opening two quarters went by with little action.

Just south of two and a half minutes into the first quarter, Portsmouth quarterback Sean Coyne scampered down the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown run, but what appeared to be the first score of the game was called back on a holding penalty.

Each team attempted a field goal in the second quarter, as well, in search of breaking the stalemate.

However, Coyne’s 39-yard bid with 2:31 remaining in the half missed wide left, and West’s Giancarlo Coppola De Almarza came up just short on a 38-yard try prior to halftime.

It didn’t take long for the Patriots to break the tie when play resumed in the third quarter, though.

A bad turnover gave Portsmouth excellent field position. A pressured Dionizio dumped off a short pass to an offensive lineman, which would’ve gone as a penalty for a pass to an ineligible receiver, but the lineman fumbled the ball and the Patriots recovered at West’s 12-yard line.

A couple of plays later, Roche powered his way in from the 7-yard line to give Portsmouth a 7-0 lead.

After that, West’s offense continued to have trouble moving the ball.

Dionizio left the game in the third quarter with an injury but, even before that, Portsmouth’s defense was stingy.

West’s first-year starting quarterback completed 11 passes while he was on the field, but the Patriots’ ability to minimize big plays paid off, with only two of those passes going for more than 10 yards.

And while West’s offense continued to struggle, Portsmouth’s found its groove.

Senior running back Alex Khalfayan sprinted his way to a 48-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, and Coyne added a 74-yard touchdown run before the quarter was up to put Portsmouth out in front, 21-0.

With sophomore Steven Kidd under center in the fourth quarter, West fumbled and Portsmouth defensive lineman Alex Cory scooped the loose ball and took it back for a 47-yard touchdown.

Noah Johnson would add the final touchdown of the game for Portsmouth on a 3-yard plunge with under five minutes to go in the game. A missed extra point would keep the score at 34-0.

It wasn’t confirmed after the game, but Stoehr feared that Dionizio broke his collarbone.

If that’s the case, West will be faced with filling that void for this Friday’s non-league game at Johnston, and potentially for the rest of the season.

“We’ll have to come up with something next week and find a quarterback,” Stoehr said. “We will.”

This week’s matchup with the Panthers should present West with a good opportunity to get back on track following the tough loss, as Division II Johnston has had its struggles early on.

Kickoff at Johnston will be at 7 p.m.

The Falcons will then search for their first league win next Friday when they travel to Curtis Corner Middle School to take on South Kingstown at 7 p.m.