PORT ALLEGANY — Much like how its season went, Port Allegany didn’t get the start it was looking for Friday night, but it sure got the finish.
After sputtering through the first quarter and falling behind 6-0 to Cameron County to start the second, Port Allegany rattled off 44 unanswered points to win its season finale over the Red Raiders, 44-6.
The victory gives the youthful Gator squad, which began the season 0-4, a three-game win streak heading into the offseason and plenty of momentum to go with it.
“It’s huge and it’s so well-deserved,” Port coach Justin Bienkowski said. “We had a conversation in film after (the fourth loss) and were starting to hear grumblings from the outside. I told the kids that in life when this happens, you just have to block out that noise and focus on the guys you trust and on your coaches … (the kids) just stayed the course.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Cameron County (0-6) drew first blood to take that lead early in the second. Quarterback Dylan Baney guided his team down the field until he fumbled at the goal line. However, teammate Eyan Smith pounced on the ball in the end zone to give the Red Raiders their only score of the night.
From there, however, it was all Port Allegany. The Gators put up 22 points to end the half and then added 22 more in the second half for the 38-point victory.
Quarterback Drew Evens put up one of his better performances of the season, completing 10-of-20 passes for 188 yards and a pair of scores. His first touchdown came in the waning seconds of the first half on an 18-yard strike to Noah Archer that gave Port its 22-6 halftime lead. The other came on a screen pass to Blaine Moses, who caught it at the line of scrimmage and rumbled 21 yards for a touchdown.
Moses was the Gators’ most potent offensive threat. In addition to his touchdown reception, the tailback ran for a gaudy 182 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. Two of his three scores came during Port’s second quarter run, the first a 42-yard scamper and the other a six-yard run. He also led the defense with 11.5 tackles.
“Boy do I love the fact that we get him two more years,” Bienkowski said. “He’s reliable. The best ability is reliability and he’s so coachable. You can count on him, and he just tries to punish people. He’s a fun kid to coach and deserves all the accolades he’ll get.”
Out of halftime, Moses struck from 42 yards again to put Port up 30-6, and then added his touchdown reception later on. Taro Tanaka finished the Gators’ scoring off in the fourth quarter with a five-yard plunge into the end zone.
The Gators also got a couple linemen involved on two-point conversions, as Dalton Distrola and Justin Young each managed to score a couple points.
“We definitely came through some bumps there in the first quarter. We thought what we were calling seemed like it would work, but we just weren’t executing,” Bienkowski said. “We (as coaches) said not to change a thing, and the kids showed up. We just kept playing our offense.”
Once Port’s offense got going, so, too, did its defense. The Gators stymied Cameron County to the tune of 142 yards of total offense, including just 57 yards of rushing. Port’s secondary picked off Baney four times. Payton Spencer had two of those interceptions, while Peyton Stiles and Tanaka each had one.
“We felt as though we needed to force them to throw the ball, because they’re big and run that pro-style offense,” Bienkowski said. “We made sure to take it away, and our defensive coordinator had a great plan.”
The win also marked the finale for a group of seniors that Bienkowski says “holds a special place in our program and always will.”
Among those who bid their farewells to Port football Friday night were: Trey Ayers, Tanaka, Young, Distrola and Derek Kallenborn.
“Every single one of them will be missed. We’ll feel that loss,” Bienkowski said. “They had coachability and always just shut up and grinded … they deserve this three-game win streak because wins and losses haven’t always gone their way, but they’ve always worked.”
And after such an uncertain 2020 season that almost didn’t happen, Bienkowski is grateful to have ended it on that win streak and to have been able to have a season at all.
“A big thanks to our administration. We had some curveballs here and there, and we always just followed the protocol and we were able to get our full schedule again. We appreciate it.”
AT PORT ALLEGANY
BY QUARTERS
Cameron Co. 0 6 0 0—6
Port Allegany 0 22 16 6—44
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: CC: 11, PA: 17; Rushes/Yards Rushing: CC: 31-57, PA: 26-230; Yards Passing: CC: 85, PA: 188; Comp-Att-Int: CC: 9-19-4, PA: 10-20-0; Penalties: CC: 1-5, PA: 5-50; Fumbles-Lost: CC: 1-0, PA: 1-1; Total Yards: CC: 142, PA: 418; Offensive Plays: CC: 50, PA: 46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: CC: Dylan Baney 9-19-85-0-4; PA: Drew Evens 10-20-188-2-0
Rushing: CC: Dylan Rieder 7-39, Eyan Smith 5-15, Jameson Britton 13-5, Baney 6-(-2); PA: Blaine Moses 11-182-3, Noah Archer 8-34, Taro Tanaka 5-12-1, Peyton Stiles 1-5, Trey Ayers 1-(-3)
Receiving: CC: Connor Nolan 5-39, Nathan Reed 1-25, Gannon Horning 2-17, Dion Roberto 1-4; PA: Trey Ayers 3-86, Archer 3-55-1, Stiles 2-25, Moses 1-21-1, Tanaka 1-1
Scoring summary
First quarter
No scoring.
Second quarter
CC: Eyan Smith, fumble recovery in end zone (2-pt pass failed), 10:59
PA: Blaine Moses, 42-yard run (Noah Archer 2-pt run), 9:03
PA: Moses, 6-yard run (2-pt pass failed), 7:33
PA: Archer, 18-yard pass from Drew Evens (Dalton Distrola 2-pt run), 0:35
Third quarter
PA: Moses, 42-yard run (Peyton Stiles 2-pt pass from Evens), 11:00
PA: Moses, 21-yard pass from Evens (Justin Young 2-pt run), 1:11
Fourth quarter
PA: Taro Tanaka, 5-yard run (2-pt run failed), 4:28
