MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Silver is pretty special, too.
The Port Allegany Gators traveled to Cumberland Valley High School on Thursday in search of the program’s first state title, but Bishop Guilfoyle had other ideas.
Hamilton Gates’ 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter broke a 14-14 tie and started a flurry for BG that ended with their fifth state championship in a ten year span, 41-22 over the Gators.
“This was an unbelievable atmosphere, the PIAA puts on a good show, we just didn’t play our best football today,” said Port Allegany coach Justin Bienkowski. “It is what it is, but it doesn’t take away what these kids did. We’ll hold our heads high and be very prideful of the product we put on the field this year.”
Trailing 14-8 at halftime, the Gators went on a 13-play 59-yard drive to start the second half, ending with an Aiden Bliss touchdown 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Bliss carried the ball 12 times in the drive and a whopping 47 in the game, finishing with 249 yards on the ground. The one play he didn’t carry the ball was on a critical third-and-3 from the Bishop Guilfoyle 8-yard line, when he had to come out of the game for a play. No matter, as Kellen Veilleux picked up a critical five yards to set up the score.
The 2-point conversion was no good, and the game was tied at 14-14 with 4:32 to go in the third quarter.
What followed was a flurry a counter-punch, a knockout if you will, scoring three touchdowns in the span of six minutes. The first punch came just two plays after the Gators tied the game, as jack-of-all-trades Hamilton Gates raced 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to put the Marauders up, 21-14.
“They came back and did what they needed to do,” Bienkowski said. “We just had a couple of guys out of position and in the state finals, teams are going to take advantage of that. That momentum came back their way and it just didn’t seem to come back.”
The Gators also lost a critical part of their defense, Tristan Kiser, who left the game with an injury in the second quarter.
“I think it was more of a morale thing than anything else,” Bienkowski said. “Tristan it their brother, he’s a guy that has everyone’s respect. That’s tough to come back from. That’s not an excuse. Bishop Guilfoyle was the better Class A team today, but I’ll play with our team any day of the week.”
Port Allegany’s next two offensive possessions resulted in a three-and-out and a Brennan Fillhart pass being intercepted by Braden Reilly.
The BG drives that followed each of those resulted in 80 yards covered in just five combined plays, with Taurean Consiglio scoring his third touchdown of the game on a 26-yard run, and Gates, who lines up all over the field, tossing a 27-yard touchdown pass to Reilly on what was a very windy day in Mechanicsburg.
“These conditions are perfect for our style of play,” Bienkowski said. “But Bishop Guilfoyle made a point to do things just a little bit better than we did in the trenches today, and they deserve the title.”
The Marauders extended their lead to 41-14 on Consiglio’s fourth rushing touchdown of the game, a 15-yard run, but the Gators fought to the finish.
A 67-yard drive ended with Bliss’ 56th and final touchdown of the season, a 19-yard run.
Unofficially, Bliss finished his junior season with 3,429 yards rushing, the fifth most in a season in state history.
“Most importantly he’s such a class kid that happens to be a hell of an athlete,” Bienkowski said.
The first half belonged mostly to the Marauders. Port Allegany was driving on its initial possession, but BG was able to jump on the ball at their own 36 to stall that drive.
A 5-play, 45-yard drive resulted in Consiglio’s first touchdown of the day from 12 yards out.
On their next possession, BG went 61 yards on nine plays, capped by Consiglio’s 6-yard run, and it was 14-0 with 7:06 to play in the second quarter.
Consiglio (10.7 yards per carry) rushed for 160 yards in the game and Gates (14.4) finished with 101.
“We just did not bring our best today,” Bienkowski said. “And that’s disappointing, because we can’t get that back. But those are life lessons. Sometimes things aren’t going to go your way.”
What followed, however, was prototypical Port Allegany football that allowed them to get back in the game. Between their final drive of the first half and their first drive of the second half, they chewed up over 13 minutes of game clock, with both resulting in touchdowns.
The Gators offensive line started to assert itself on a 11-play 70-yard drive that resulted in Bliss’ 3-yard touchdown run that, coupled with his 2-point conversion, made it 14-8 with 1:26 to go before halftime.
Despite the outcome, a proud Bienkowski swelled with pride talking about what his team accomplished this season.
“These kids are 26 great human beings for our school and our school and our football program, and they’ve left a lasting legacy getting to the state title game,” Bienkowski said. “The emotions of it all, just forget the score. I’m just sad it’s over. We don’t get to go in for film on Monday, and that part stinks, but I’m very proud of the way our guys kept fighting. They didn’t give up, scoring that last touchdown is a testament to their drive and composure.”
AT MECHANICSBURG
BY QUARTERS
BG 7 7 14 13—41
PA 0 8 6 8—22
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: BG: 16, PA: 14; Rushes/Yards Rushing: BG: 29-302, Home: PA-52-257; Yards
Passing: BG: 49, PA: 12; Comp-Att-Int: BG: 5-7-0, PA: 1-3-1; Penalties: BG: 1-5, PA: 3-20; Fumbles-Lost: BG: 0-0, PA: 1-1; Total Yards: BG: 351, PA 269: ; Offensive Plays: BG: 36, PA: 55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: BG Chase Kissell 4-of-6, 22 yards; Hamilton Gates 1-of-1, 27 yards: ; PA: Brennan Fillhart, 1-of-3, 12 yards
Rushing: BG: Taurean Consiglio 15-160, Hamilton Gates 7-101, Chase Kissell 6-43 ; PA: Aiden Bliss 47-249, Kellen Veilleux 3-8, Brennan Fillhart 1-0, Nick Wilfong 1-(minus)7
Receiving: BG: Braden Reilley 1-27, Taurean Consiglio 3-20, Hamilton Gates 1-2 ; PA: Kellen Veilleux 1-12
Scoring summary
First quarter
BG – Taurean Consiglio 12 run (Mike Cacciotti PAT), 2:07
Second quarter
BG – Consiglio 6 run (Carter Boland PAT), 7:06
PA – Aiden Bliss 3 run (Bliss 2-point run), 1:26
Third quarter
PA – Bliss 2 run (2-point conversion failed), 4:32
BG – Hamilton Gates 65 run (Cacciotti PAT), 3:29
BG – Consiglio 9 run (Carter Boland PAT), :9
Fourth quarter
BG – Braden Reilly 27 pass from Hamilton Gates (PAT failed), 10:10
BG – Consiglio 15 run (Boland PAT), 4:01
PA – Bliss 19 run (Bliss 2-point conversion run), :36
