Bodamer career game-by-game

View Game Highlights via YouTube (Courtesy of Todd Miller; Record is about 4:10 mark of video

By Andy Close

SHEFFIELD – The list of great quarterbacks to come from the state of Pennsylvania is a long one. It includes Super Bowl MVPs and multiple Hall of Famers who are considered some of the best to ever play the game.

None of them, however, have the distinction of throwing for the most touchdowns in Pennsylvania High School football history. That honor belongs to Port Allegany’s Matt Bodamer.

Bodamer threw for four touchdowns in a 69-30 rout of Sheffield Saturday that saw him overtake former Lancaster Catholic quarterback Kyle Smith for most passing touchdowns ever by a PA high school signal caller. Bodamer now has 120 for his career, besting the old mark of 118.

In the process, he became just the third QB in state history to throw for over 9,000 yards, joining Brockway’s Derek Buganza and Allentown Central Catholic’s Brendan Nostovich.

“It’s exciting,” Bodamer said simply about breaking the record. “It makes things a lot easier when you have the chemistry that we do.”

Bodamer’s 10-yard scoring strike on an out pattern to Tyce Miller on the first play of the second quarter was magic number 119. That play was responsible for two records, as it was Miller’s 31st career receiving touchdown  passing Clarion-Limestone’s Brad Beggs for most in District 9 history. Miller, whose three touchdown catches in the game give him 32 in his career, also broke the District 9 career receiving mark later in the game and has 2,462 career yards.

“It feels pretty good,” Miller said. “We’ve been together for a while, running routes every night during the summer, lifting weights. It’s a good feeling.”

That score, Bodamer’s second of three to Miller on the afternoon, made the score 26-7 and followed a one-yard plunge by Bodamer and a four-yard scoring strike to Rickie Bova.

As impressive as Bodamer was offensively, he was even more so on the defensive side of the ball.

Trailing 48-14 late in the first half, the Wolverines (2-5) tried to move the ball downfield through the air to get a score before halftime.

Big mistake.

Bodamer picked off Wright with 35 seconds left in the half and raced 65 yards untouched into the end zone.

The Wolverines tried once again, moving the ball to the Port 22 with two second left in the half. Wright’s pass at the end of the half was once again intercepted by Bodamer, who got to about the 30, looked like he was going to step out of bounds, side-stepped a Sheffield defender and had his second pick-six in the final minute of the half to make it 62-14.

“After I got to the 30, I thought I was going out of bounds but then I got another block,” Bodamer said. “We were just smiling at each other going down the sideline,” Miller chuckled.

In between the record-breaking score and Bodamer’s interception returns were a pair of scoring runs from Trent Neal, who went over 100 yards rushing on the day, and offensive lineman Nick Budd, as well as a 65-yard strike from Bodamer to Miller.

The 65-yarder was impressive in itself, as Miller made a leaping catch and raced in for the touchdown, leaving a pair of Wolverine defenders in his wake.

“I didn’t know where I was,” Miller said about his third touchdown reception of the game. “I just caught it and figured I was going to get tackled.”

Bodamer also had a season-high on the ground, rushing for 111 yards on just nine carries

Sheffield added a couple of late touchdowns on a Wright four-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Johnston and a 58-yard interception return from Mister Ussery.

Port Allegany (7-0) travels to Cameron County Friday, while Sheffield travels to Smethport

PORT ALLEGANY  69, SHEFFIELD 30

Score by Quarters

Port Allegany 20   42   7  0 – 69

Sheffield         7      7    0   16 – 30

Scoring summary

First Quarter

P – Matt Bodamer 1 run (Kick Blocked) 8:28

P – Tyce Miller 25 pass from Bodamer (Bodamer to Nick Conway 2-point conversion)

S – Tony Burt 70 interception return (Shequan Wright kick) 2:32

P – Rickie Bova four pass from Bodamer (Conversion Failed) :28

Second Quarter

P – Miller 10 pass from Bodamer (Conversion Failed) 11:50

P – Trent Neal 8 run (Bodamer to Miller 2-point conversion) 6:19

P – Nick Budd 1 run (Sam Kysor kick) 4:26

S – Brendan Winslow 65 pass from Wright (Wright kick) 3:31

P – Miller 65 pass from Bodamer (Kysor kick) 3:02

P – Bodamer 65 interception return (Kysor kick) :35

P – Bodamer 94 interception return (Kysor kick) :00

Third Quarter

P –Neal 10 run (Kysor kick) 5:50

Fourth Quarter

S – Brandon Johnston 4 pass from Wright (Wright two-point conversion run) 1:52

S –Mister Ussery 58 interception return (Wright two-point conversion run)

Team Stats

                                    P                                  S

First Downs                29                                9

Rushes-Yards              31-242                         20-32

Passing Yards             327         `                    138

Comp-Att-INT            22-32-3                        8-20-2

Total Yards                 569                              160

Fumbles-Lost              1-0                               2-2

Punts-Avg.                  1-38.0                          5-32.5

Penalties-Yards           3-35                             3-30

Individual Stats

Passing

Port Allegany – Matt Bodamer 19-26, 286 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, Jordan Seefeldt 3-6, 41 yards, 2 INTs; Sheffield – Shequan Wright 5-14, 94 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs; Adam Higby 3-6, 44 yards

Rushing

Port Allegany – Matt Bodamer 9-111, Trent Neal 13-101, Tyler Shaffer 3-23, Jordan Seefeldt 4-5, Nick Budd 1-1, Mac Tanner 1-1; Sheffield – Shequan Wright 5-9, Brandon Johnston 5-15, Dylan Smith 4-14, Dylan Reynolds 5-9, Team 1-(-)15

Receiving

Port Allegany – Tyce Miller 9-176, Nick Conway 5-84 Rickie Bova 3-29, Trent Neal 2-18, Trey Miller 1-9, Chris Lashway 1-0, Chad Gaines 1-11; Sheffield -  Brendan Winslow 1-65, Dylan Reynolds 2-24, Dylan McNeal 2-23, Brandon Johnston 1-4, Tyler Fitzgerald 1-22