ST. MARYS – Seth Lowery’s 4-yard touchdown run followed by Matt Bodamer interception lifted Port Allegany to a 47-40 four-overtime win over Elk County Catholic in the opening round of the District 9 Class A playoffs Friday night at St. Marys’ Dutch Country Stadium.

The game is the longest game in District 9 history and was tied at 26 at the end of regulation before the two teams traded scored in the first two overtimes and failed to score in the third overtime.

The fact Lowery and Bodamer were in on the winning plays was no surprise considering they were the reason Port Allegany (6-4), the sixth seed, was in the game to begin with.

Lowery carried the ball 34 times for 151 yards and four touchdowns while Bodamer was 11 of 19 passing for 166 yards and a touchdown while going over the 3,000-yard career passing mark in only his sophomore season (3,009 yards, 34 touchdowns in his career). He also scored a rushing touchdown.  Tyce Miller added six catches for 81 yards for Port Allegany.

Lowery and Bodamer helped offset a monster game from ECC’s Ricky Pearsall who unofficially ran for 213 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries putting him over 1,600 yards on the season and 3,500 yards in his career.

ECC (7-3), the third seed, led 20-13 at halftime thanks to touchdown runs of 9, 52 and 5 yards from Pearsall. Port got field goals of 31 and 23 yards from Kenny Kysor and a 7-yard Bodamer scoring run in the half.

The Gators then tied the game in the third quarter on a 7-yard Lowery touchdown run before Cole Gerber put the Crusaders back ahead in the fourth quarter with a 35-yard scoring run.

Lowery, however, retied the game on a 1-yard run late in regulation, but Port Allegany was called for a penalty on the extra-point attempt and the added yardage helped contribute to a miss and overtime.

In the first overtime, ECC got the ball first and scored on a 10-yard Pearsall run before Bodamer hit Trevor Neal with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 33.

In the second overtime, Lowery’s 3-yard run gave the Gators a 40-33 lead but Pearsall tied the game with an 8-yard run of his own.

Neither team could score in the third overtime with ECC turning the ball over on downs and Kysor missing what would have been a game-winning field goal.

NOTES – The previous longest games in District 9 history had all gone three overtimes. There have been five triple-overtime games in District 9 history with the last one coming Nov. 27, 2009, when Bedford beat Karns City 28-26 in the PIAA Class AA first round ... The last regular-season triple-overtime game in District 9 was Oct. 3, 2009, when Otto-Eldred beat Sheffield 35-29. The other triple-overtime games were a 28-21 Redbank Valley win over Clarion in 2008 District 9 Class A playoffs (first round), a 16-10 DuBois win over Hollidaysburg in 1995 (the first regular-season overtime game in District 9 history) and a 33-26 Karns City win over Moniteau also in 1995 … The longest playoff overtime games in District 9 history between two District 9 teams (not PIAA history) had been a pair of two-overtime contests. ECC beat Curwensville 27-24 in the 2008 Class A first round and Bradford beat Clearfield 37-30 in the 2006 Class AAA title game … It was only the sixth overtime playoff game in District 9 history (D9 started the playoffs in 1987) but the third involving ECC. In addition to the two-overtime contests listed above, Clarion beat ECC in the 2008 Class A semifinals in a single overtime, Clarion beat C-L in the 1990 Class A title game and Brookville beat Karns City in the 1998 Class AA title game.

PORT ALLEGANY 47,

ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 40, 4OT

Score By Quarters

Port       3             10           7             6             7             7             0             7—        47

ECC     7             13           0             6             7             7             0             0—        40

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

P - Kenny Kysor 31 field goal, 7:07.

E - Ricky Pearsall 9 run (David Bojalad kick), 3:04.

Second Quarter

P - Matt Bodamer 6 run (Kysor kick), 8:06.

E - Pearsall 51 run (Kick failed), 5:16.

E - Pearsall 5 run (Bojalad kick), 1:44.

P - Kysor 24 field goal, 0:00.

Third Quarter

P - Seth Lowery 7 run (Kysor kick), 4:30.

Fourth Quarter

E - Cole Gerber 35 run (Kick failed), 11:03.

P - Lowery 1 run (Kick failed), 0:37.

First Overtime

E - Pearsall 10 run (Bojalad kick).

P - Trevor Neal 5 pass from Bodamer (Kysor kick).

Second Overtime

P - Lowery 3 run (Kysor kick).

E - Pearsall 8 run (Bojalad kick).

Third Overtime

None.

Fourth Overtime

P - Lowery 3 run (Kysor kick).

                P             E

First Downs      23           12

Rushes-Yards  52-194 38-264

Passing Yards  166        51

Comp-Att-Int  11-19-1               3-11-2

Total Yardage 360       315

Punts-Average                3-30.3  3-20.7

Fumbles-lost     2-0         0-0

Penalties-Yards              5-35      4-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Port Allegany: Seth Lowery 34-151, Matt Bodamer 12-34, Zach Ramadhan 6-9. Elk County Catholic: Ricky Pearsall 32-213, Cole Gerber 5-48, Kyle Schneider 1-3.

Passing - Port Allegany: Matt Bodamer 11 of 19, 166 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Elk County Catholic: Kyle Schneider 3 of 11, 51 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT.

Receiving - Port Allegany: Tyce Miller 6-81, Camrin Stuckey 1-28, Charlie Buchanan 1-28, Trevor Neal 2-11, Zach Ramadhan 1-18. Elk County Catholic: David Bojalad 1-13, Tyler Herzing 1-33, Cole Gerber 1-5.

Interceptions - Port Allegany: Tyce Miller, Matt Bodamer. Elk County Catholic: Jake Geer.