EMPORIUM — Port Allegany put the finishing touches on a 10-0 regular season with a 48-0 win over Cameron County.
The Gators didn’t exactly start the game how they wanted to. After three first downs that got them inside Red Raider territory, a dropped backwards pass was recovered by Cameron County. The Red Raiders went three and out soon after though.
A bad snap from Port Allegany on their next drive had them face 2nd and 27 from their own 3-yard line. Two plays later it was 4th and 3 from their own 27-yard line, junior running back Tristan Kiser then ran 73 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring. The Gators failed to get the two-point conversion, and the score was 6-0 Port Allegany.
On the first play of the next drive for Cameron County, Gator sophomore cornerback Kellen Veilleux intercepted Red Raider senior quarterback Ryder Brown. A few plays later junior running back Aiden Bliss ran for an 18-yard touchdown, senior lineman Gavyn Mckervey then got his time to shine as he punched the ball in for a two-point conversion making the score 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
On the Gators next drive Bliss got in the endzone yet again when he finished a 12-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown run making the lead 21-0. After a Red Raider three-and-out, Port Allegany embarked on another long drive. Bliss this time punctuated a 10-play drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to go ahead 28-0.
Port Allegany took over at their own 42-yard line with 51 seconds left in the first half for one last scoring opportunity. On the second play of the drive freshman quarterback Brennan Fillhart threw to Veilleux downfield who made the catch and ran past Cameron County defenders for a 50-yard touchdown pass. The score was 35-0 heading into halftime.
“We wanted to come in and we wanted to establish the line of scrimmage,” Port Allegany head coach Justin Bienkowski said. “We got a little sloppy early, we were happy with how we responded.”
Cameron County got the ball to start the second half. After getting into Gator territory Brown threw another interception that was caught by junior defensive back Nick Wilfong. A few plays later Bliss ran for a 20-yard touchdown and the score was 41-0 after a missed extra-point, the score held going into the 4th quarter.
The last score of the night was when Fillhart rushed for a six-yard touchdown. The game ended with Port Allegany winning 48-0, the Gators finished their regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. Cameron County finished their regular season 6-3.
Fillhart was 2-3 with 58 yards and 1 touchdown, while Brown was 3-8 with 11 yards and 2 interceptions. Bliss had 24 carries for 271 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Kiser had 6 carries for 114 yards and 1 touchdown.
Bliss now has amassed 2,009 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns; Kiser has 1,046 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“I’m extremely proud of the guys up front for how well they blocked,” Coach Bienkowski said. “Tristan Kiser is a 1,000-yard rusher and Aiden Bliss is a 2,000-yard rusher in the regular season, which is the first time in school history.”
Port Allegany will now start to think about the district playoffs as they will likely be the #1 seed in the District 9 1A bracket.
“We hope to have an opponent next week,” coach Bienkowski said. “We will keep getting ourselves ready for next week, whoever they tell us we are going against we will be ready.”
Cameron County is also going to participate in the District 9 1A playoffs. Both teams next game dates and opponents are to be announced.
