ANDERSON; DEFENSE LEAD PORT ALLEGANY OVER OTTO-ELDRED

Oct. 9, 2004

The Gators (4-2) led 21-14 at halftime but outscored Otto-Eldred (3-3) 14-0 in the second half due in large part to its defense which limited the Terrors to just 29 second-half yards while forcing two turnovers. Otto-Eldred turned the ball over three times in all in the second half and six times (4 fumbles, 2 interceptions) in the game.

Cody Anderson had a huge day for Port Allegany rushing 29 times for 155 yards and four touchdowns and recovering three fumbles.

Field position, due in part to turnovers and in part to defense and special teams, played a huge role in the win for Port Allegany. Of the five Gator scoring drives two started in Otto-Eldred territory, one started at midfield and one started at the Port Allegany 42-yard line. The longest scoring drive for the Gators was a 69-yard drive in the second quarter.

It was Otto-Eldred, though, who made the first big play of the game when Virgil Graham returned the opening kickoff 59 yards to the Port Allegany 37-yard line.

Despite trying to kill the drive with penalties by committing three for 15 yards, Otto-Eldred was able to score when Dan Terrette hit Tyler Ferguson with a 15-yard pass on a fourth-and-goal play from the 15. Eric Freer’s extra point gave the Terrors a 7-0 lead.

Runs of 15 and 12 yards by Graham had set Otto-Eldred up at the Port Allegany 9-yard line. But 2-yard loss by Ryan Little, a 5-yard penalty on the Terrors and a 6-yard loss by Terrette made it third-and-goal from the 23. Little then gained 17 yards setting Otto-Eldred up with a more manageable fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line before two consecutive 5-yard penalties pushed the ball back to the 15.

Port Allegany got great field position on the ensuing kickoff when Caleb Peterson returned the kick out to midfield.

Eight plays later Cody Anderson scored the first of four touchdowns on a 4-yard run that coupled with Trevor Sena’s extra point tied at the game at seven. A 15-yard run by Anderson earlier in the drive was the key play of the drive.

The Gators then created a break on the ensuing kickoff when Graham fumbled the return and Port Allegany’s Sam Kephart recovered at the fumble at the Otto-Eldred 20-yard line.

Seven plays later, Anderson plunged in from the 2-yard line on a fourth-and-goal play giving Otto-Eldred a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Gators made it 21-7 on their first drive of the second quarter when Craig Flint hit Robert Tomac with a 13-yard scoring pass on a third-and-8 play. Willie Bova then found Jake Rohrer with the two-point conversion pass. The big play of the drive was a 43-yard run by Robert Nichols that moved the ball from the Port Allegany 23-yard line to the Otto-Eldred 34.

Otto-Eldred wasted little time getting back in the game going 65 yards in seven plays scoring on a 3-yard run by Graham cutting Port Allegany’s lead to 21-14.

Big plays in the drive included a 44-yard run by Graham on a third-and-23 play from the Otto-Eldred 22-yard line that moved the ball to the Port Allegany 34-yard line and a 26-yard pass from Terrette to Ferguson on third-and-5 from the 29 that got the ball down to the 3-yard line the play before Graham’s score.

Each team had chances later in the quarter to score only to see interceptions thwart drives.

First Otto-Eldred started a drive at the 50-yard line following a punt and quickly moved to the Port Allegany 21 on runs of 17 and 12 yards by Graham. But on second-and-11 from the 22-yard line, Bova, who returned the ball out to the Port Allegany 15, picked off Terrette.

From there, the Gators used runs of 15 and 12 yards from Anderson and a 25-yard pass from Flint to Rohrer to move to the Otto-Eldred 23-yard line. But on second-and-14 from the 27, Nathan Booth intercepted a Flint pass ending the drive.

Otto-Eldred had one more chance to score driving to midfield late in the half thanks to a 26-yard run by Graham. But Flint picked off a Terrette pass to end the drive.

At the start of the third quarter, Port Allegany drove to the Otto-Eldred 25 only to have Anderson fumble the ball away.

The Gator defense, though, stopped Otto-Eldred cold and forced a punt, which gave Port Allegany great field position at the Otto-Eldred 46-yard line.

Port needed 11 plays to ground out the touchdown scoring on a 12-yard Anderson run on a fourth-and-7 play to make the score 28-14.

Midway through fourth quarter, another Otto-Eldred fumble that Anderson recovered set the Gators up at the Otto-Eldred 35-yard line.

But Port Allegany went backwards and was facing a fourth-and-21 when a lucky play helped set up its final touchdown.

T.J. Seal picked off Flint. But Seal fumbled the ball during the return, and Anderson recovered for Port Allegany at the Gator 42. It was the third fumble recovery in the game for Anderson.

Port Allegany then marched down the field scoring on a 2-yard run by Anderson with just seconds remaining.

Anderson led Port Allegany with 155 yards rushing and four touchdowns while recovering three fumbles. Rohrer had four catches for 52 yards.

Graham paced Otto-Eldred with 15 carries for 120 yards, but 129 of those yards came in the first half. He was held to negative 9 yards on three carries in the second half.

SCORE BY QUARTER

OE 7 7 0 0 – 14

PA 13 8 7 7 – 35

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

OE – Tyler Ferguson 15 pass from Dan Terrette (Eric Freer kick), O-E 7-0

PA – Cody Anderson 4 run (Trevor Sena kick), Tied 7-7

PA – Anderson 2 run (Kick blocked), PA 13-7

SECOND QUARTER

PA – Robert Tomac 13 pass from Craig Flint (Jake Rohrer pass from Willie Bova), PA 21-7

OE – Virgil Graham 3 run (Freer kick), PA 21-14

THIRD QUARTER

PA – Anderson 4 run (Sena kick), PA 28-14

FOURTH QUARTER

PA – Anderson 2 run (Diego Barnes kick), PA 35-14

TEAM STATISTICS

OE PA

First Downs 9 20

Rushing Yards 33-132 57-297

Passing Yards 68 82

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 4-9-2 7-17-2

Total Yards 200 379

Fumbles-Lost 5-4 2-1

Penalties-Yards 8-50 3-15

Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 1-27.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Otto-Eldred: Virgil Graham 15-120, Anthony Marrone 1-1, Ryan Little 9-44, Dan Terrette 7-(-21), Robbie Root 1-(-12). Port Allegany: Cody Anderson 29-155, Robert Nichols 6-68, Nick Nichols 8-46, Jake Rohrer 9-32, Craig Flint 2-3, Willie Bova 3-(-7).

Passing – Otto-Eldred: Dan Terrette 4-for-9, 68 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions. Port Allegany: Willie Bova 3-for-8, 28 yards. Craig Flint 4-for-9, 54 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions.

Receiving – Otto-Eldred: Tyler Ferguson 2-41, Nathan Booth 1-6, Ryan Little 1-21. Port Allegany: Robert Tomac 2-22, Jake Rohrer 4-52, Cody Anderson 1-8.

Interceptions – Otto-Eldred: Nathan Booth, TJ Seal. Port Allegany: Craig Flint, Willie Bova