PORT ALLEGANY – For the first time in its Allegheny Mountain League career, the Curwensville Area High School football team fell to the hands of Port Allegany 35-13 Saturday afternoon. Curwensville held an 8-0 slate over the Gators, including the last year’s District IX Class A title game.
However, this loss , as hard as it is to accept by the Golden Tide, simply slips them into a first place tie in the AML South. The Golden Tide (2-1) is now in a three-way tie for the South title with Elk County and Brockway after the third week of play. Port Allegany holds the top North spot standing at 3-0 on the year.
Saturday’s game at “The Swamp” in Port A. was billed as the battle between run and pass, and on a perfect day for football it didn’t disappoint. Curwensville’s senior tailback Alex Holland surpassed the 4,000 yard rushing mark, while Gator junior Matt Bodamer threw past the same milestone on the day.
Holland ended the day with 292 yards on 40 carries to raise his career total to 4,180. Bodamer passed for 217 yards on the day connecting on 13-of-23 throws with four TD’s, a two-point conversion and one interception. His career passing yardage now stands at 4,143.
The passing attack seemed to be on track from the start as Bodamer moved the Gators in for the score on the opening drive. The eight play drive set the tone for the day as Bodamer hit on 3-of-6 passes passes, two Tide procedure penalties and a 21-yard TD pass to Charlie Buchanan when it appeared that Curwensville would drop Bodamer for a loss.
“He (Buchanan) made some plays for them by being mobile,” Tide head coach Andy Evanko said. “We didn’t tackle well – that’s something we can fix. I didn’t have everything ready for the kids to handle this game and we weren’t totally prepared – that’s on me.”
Curwensville saw its first drive cover nearly six minutes before failing to convert on a fourth down pass play. However, Tide junior Josh Greslick became the first defender to pick off Bodamer on the year at the Gator 45-yard line.
The running game methodically moved the ball down field on seven plays to the Port 1-yard line. However, the Gator “D” held off a third down quarterback sneak and a Tide false start backed the ball up to the six on fourth down. quarterback Hunter McCracken’s pass fell harmlessly to the ground and the hosts took over on downs.
“We had to play a perfect game to be competitive, and we didn’t,” Evanko noted. “In the first half we seemed to be off half a beat, and you can’t have penalties and turnovers and expect to win .”
Both teams exchanged stalled drives through the second quarter until the Gators stopped another Tide drive deep in their territory. Taking over at their own 25-yard line, Port moved 75 yards in six plays with Bodamer relying on his arms and feet once again. Bodamer was 4-of-5 with his arm, and on the one running play, when again it looked like he was fenced in, the QB escaped for a 21-yard gain. The TD strike was a 7-yard bullet to Buchanan that Tide defenders may have gotten a hand on, but lost the battle. The PAT missed to put the score at 13-0 with 4:37 left in the half.
Neither team threatened again in the half.
Curwensville’s opening possession of the second half stalled, and then proved fatal. The long snap to punter Jesse Zorger sailed high, and he could only recover and move the ball to the Curwensville 20.
One Play later, a scrambling Bodamer connected with Tyce Miller for the 20-yard catch and run. Bodamer kept the ball on the PAT conversion to set the lead at 21-0.
It was then that the Golden Tide found its game for the first time. After the ensuing kickoff set the ball on the host’s 35, the line parted the left side and Holland rumbled 65-yards for a score that pushed his career total over 4,000 yards. Spencer Smeal hit the extra-point for a 21-7 mark with 9:23 to play in the third quarter. Nine seconds had gone off the clock between the two scores.
“That’s a big accomplishment for Alex, Said Evanko with pride, “but it also says a lot about the offensive line and full backs who have blocked for him over the last few years. He’s a heck of an athlete and a heck of a runner.”
The Tide defense backed up the score with a solid stand. On fourth and inches, the guys up front stuffed Trent Neal and forced a fumble that Smeal fell on at the Gator 47.
“We kept fighting in the contest and showed our worth,” said Evanko. “I’ve talked about our resilience before, and there is no quit in this team.”
On second and nine, Holland broke through again for a 35-yard jaunt, and two plays later broke the bowled into the end zone on a 9-yard score. Unfortunately, the snap was high and the kick attempt failed an the score stood at 21-13 with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
Curwensville played the next series in a “bend but don’t break” mode as a pass from Bodamer on fourth and goal bounced on the turf, and the visitors took over on the 2-yard line.
The Tide was able to put together an 11-play drive that was hindered by a holding call and ended in a punt. However, the run back set the Gators up at the Curwensville 46-yard line. Port earned a first down before the Tide forced a fumble but couldn’t recover at the 28. Bodamer, who found himself in trouble on seconddown, seemed to play better under pressure all day. He scrambled to both sides of the field before eluding pursuit and finding Buchanan at the goal line for a 28-yard score. The missed PAT left the total at 27-13.
Curwensville continued to battle as they pushed the next drive to the host’s 5-yard line. However, Buchanan showed he was going to catch everything thrown his way on the afternoon and intercepted the McCracken pass in the endzone with 5:30 left to play.
With that turnover, Port Allegany turned to the run game to try to run out the clock. The result of the run game was a four-play drive capped off by a 63-yard TD run by Trent Neal. Bodamer found Rickie Bova all alone for the two-point conversion that set the final at 35-13.
Curwensville again ended its final drive themselves as Holland lost a fumble on the Gator five.
“We have to fix a few things and, hopefully, play a better game next week,” said Evanko. “This is still just the third week of the season, and we have six more weeks on the schedule. We’ll go back to work on Monday and get things done.”
The Golden Tide will be back on the road again next week at Otto-Eldred. The Terrors defeated Johnsonburg 26-13 on Friday night.
Score by Quarters
Curwensville – 0 0 13 0 – 13
Port Allegany – 7 6 8 14 – 35
BOX SCORE
1st Quarter
Port Allegany: 21-yard pass from Bodamer to Buchanan (Brookens kick), 9:27
2nd Quarter
Port Allegany: 7-yard Pass from Bodamer to Buchanan (kick failed), 4:37
3rd Quarter
Port Allegany: 20 yard pass from Bodamer to Tyce Miller (Bodamer run), 9:32
Curwensville: 65-yard run by Holland (Smeal kick), 9:23
Curwensville: 9-yard run by Holland (kick failed), 6:11
Curwensville: Safety on sack by Zorger, 1:43
4th Quarter
Port Allegany: 28-yard pass from Bodamer to Buchanan (kick failed), 8:41
Port Allegany: 63-yard run by Trent Neal (Bodamer pass to Bova), 3:40
GAME STATISTICS
Curwensville / Port Allegany
FIRST DOWNS: 15 / 12
RUSH YARDS: 316 / 163
PASS YARDS: 19 / 217
TOTAL YARDS: 335 / 380
PENALTIES: 7 / 4
PENALTY YARDS: 48 / 28
COMP/ATT/TD/INT: 2-16-0-1 / 13-23-4-1
FUMBLES: 2 / 2
FUMBLES LOST: 1 / 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
CURWENSVILLE: Holland-40 carries, 292 yards, 2 TD’s; McCracken-2 carries, (-3) yards; Coudriet-2 carries, 7 yards; Gresslick-4 carries, 20 yards; Zorger-1 carry, 3 yards; Russell- 1 carry, 12 yards; Team-1 carry, (-15) yards; TOTALS: 51 carries, 316 yards, 2 TD’s.
PORT ALLEGANY: Bodamer-9 carries, 72 yards, 1 TD; Trent Neal- 10 carries, 91 yards, 1 TD; TOTALS: 19 carries, 163 yards, 2 TD’s.
PASSING
CURWENSVILLE: McCracken – 16 attempts, 2 completions, 19 yards, 0 touchdown, 1 interceptions.
PORT ALLEGANY: Bodamer – 23 attempts, 13 completions, 217 yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception.
RECEIVING
CURWENSVILLE: Zorger – 1 reception , 7 yards; Russell – 1 reception, 12 yards; TOTALS: 2 receptions, 19 yards.
PORT ALLEGANY: Buchanan – 6 receptions, 3 Touchdowns; Tyce Miller – 3 receptions, 1 touchdown; Trent Neal – 1 reception, 14 yards; Bova – 1 reception, 20 yards; Trey Miller – 1 reception, 9 yards; Trevor Neal – 1 reception, 26 yards; TOTALS: 13 receptions, 217 yards, 4 touchdowns.