PORT ALLEGANY 41, ELK CO. CATHOLIC 38

Oct. 28, 2005

The first two quarters basically belonged to the Gators (7-2), as they scored on their first five possessions of the game to take the 34-point lead.

But ECC (5-4) started its comeback with a late first-half touchdown to close the gap to 34-6 at the half. The Crusaders then made it 34-14 after three quarters, but the game still looked over.

In the fourth quarter, though, ECC scored again to make it 34-22 before Port stopped the bleeding with a touchdown midway through the quarter making it 41-22.

The Crusaders weren’t done scoring twice in the final 2:09 to make it 41-38. But ECC’s on-side kick attempt with 1:27 to play failed allowing Port Allegany to hold on for the win.

Both teams had already clinched D9 Class A playoff spots, but the game did effect their seedings. Port Allegany will be the No. 5 seed and play at the loser of Saturday night’s AML Title game between Curwensville and Coudersport. With the loss, ECC drops to the No. 7 seed. The Crusaders will travel to Clarion for the opening round of the postseason.

Port Allegany came out flying using a heavy dose of Robert Nichols to build the big lead.

Nichols, who took most of the snaps at running back because starter Cody Anderson was nursing an ankle injury, ran 29 times for 271 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught one pass for six yards and a score. He accounted for four of the Gators five first-half touchdowns.

Port Allegany led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to three touchdowns in a span of 3:27 late in the quarter.

Nichols got the first touchdown on a 2-yard run at the 5:15 mark ending a 12-play, 80-yard drive that saw Nichols run eight times for 65 yards. He had three carries of over 10 yards on the drive including a 27-yard run to the ECC 3-yard line. Trevor Sena’s extra point was good making it 7-0.

Disaster struck ECC on the ensuing kickoff when the Crusaders fumbled the ball at their own 30. Port’s R.J. Shively recovered the fumble for Port Allegany.

It took the Gators only two plays to capitalize on the short field.

On first down, Willie Bova hit Shively for a 12-yard gain to the 18. From there, Nichols did the rest scoring on an 18-yard run that coupled with Sena’s extra point made it 14-0 with 4:53 left in the first quarter.

ECC’s next possession also ended in a turnover that gave Port Allegany great field position.

Sam Johnson intercepted a Kyle Mahoney pass and returned the interception to the ECC 16.

It took the Gators four plays to score, as Anderson scored on a 4-yard run with 1:48 left in the opening quarter. Port escaped potential trouble on the short drive when the Gators were able to recover an Anderson fumble at the ECC 7.

Up 21-0 in the second quarter, Port Allegany took over on downs at its own 35.

It didn’t take the Gators long to go the 65 yards as Bova hit Nichols with a 6-yard scoring pass making it 28-0 with 7:07 left in the opening half.

The big play of the drive was a 29-yard pass from Bova to Shively that put the ball at the ECC 21.

Port’s defense held again on downs giving the Gators the ball at their own 34. Two plays later, Nichols broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run making it 34-0 Port with 3:58 left in the first half.

ECC finally got something going on offense on its last drive of the half.

The Crusaders marked 78 yards in 13 plays to cut the lead to 34-6 at halftime on a 1-yard Mahoney run with just 18 second left in the half.

The big plays of the drive were a 14-yard pass from Mahoney to A.J. Seelye on fourth-and-7 from the ECC 42 and a 26-yard run by Anthony Mastrogiacomo that took the ball to the Port 4-yard line.

ECC’s defense took the momentum the offense had generated at the end of the first half and forced Port Allegany to go three-and-out to start the second half.

Following a 36-yard Tony Gigliotti punt, ECC took over at the Port 49.

The Crusaders needed seven plays to go the 49 yards scoring on a 12-yard run by Alex Lecker at the 7:55 mark of the third quarter making it 34-14.

ECC had three runs of 11 or more yards on the drive including an 11-yard scamper by Eric Mastrogiacomo and a 13-yard run by Anthony Mastrogiacomo.

Port looked to regain some momentum on its next drive moving to the ball to the ECC 29. But Steve Jacob intercepted a Bova pass and returned it to the Port 43 late in the quarter.

That set up a 5-play scoring drive that was capped by a 1-yard Nick Buchheit run three seconds into the fourth quarter. Mahoney then ran for the 2-point conversion cutting Port’s lead to 34-22 with an entire quarter to play.

The big play of the drive was a 31-yard pass from Mahoney to Seelye that put the ball at the Port 4.

ECC then appeared to steal all the momentum on the ensuing kickoff when Jake Rohrer muffed the kick and the Crusaders recovered at the Gator 18.

But Port’s defense rose to the occasion forcing three incomplete passes by Mahoney while also stopping Anthony Mastrogiacomo for no gain on second down to force a turnover on downs.

On ECC’s next possession, the Gator defense once again forced a turn over on downs that gave Port the ball at the ECC 46.

Port Allegany then used the short field to give itself some breathing room on Nichols fifth touchdown of the game – a 5-yard run – with 5:13 to play making it 41-22.

Nichols was the man on the drive carrying five times for 44 yards. His biggest run of the possession was a 30-yard run to the ECC 5 on third-and-19. Once again the Gators escaped potential down fall when they were able to recover a Nichols fumble on the first play of the drive.

Down 19, ECC didn’t give up.

Mahoney went 4 of 5 for 53 yards on the Crusaders next drive including a 2-yard touchdown pass to Alex Lecker to cut the Gator lead to 42-30 with 2:09 to play.

Kevin Genevro had a 20-yard catch on the drive, while Anthony Mastrogiacomo had a 22-yard catch.

Port Allegany finally lost a fumble on its next possession when Nichols coughed up the ball at the ECC 39.

On the first play following the turnover, Mahoney went up top to Genevro for a 61-yard scoring strike making it 41-38 after the 2-point conversion with 1:27 to play.

ECC, however, was not able to recover the on-side kick, and Port was able to get a first down to run out the clock.

NOTES – The 79 combined points made this the second highest scoring game in District 9 this year and the highest scoring close game … Curwensville and Kane combined to score 80 points Sept. 30 but Curwensville had 68 of them in a 68-12 win … The 38 points were the most for ECC since they its beat Ridgway 47-14 Oct. 2, 2004 … Port Allegany has now scored 40 or more points in two straight weeks and three times on the season … The 38 points were the most against the Gators this year … Nichols has gained 435 yards and rushed for six touchdowns in the last two weeks. He has eight total touchdowns in that span.

PORT ALLEGANY 41, ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 38

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Port Allegany....... 21 13 0 7 - 41 Record: (7-2,7-2)

Elk County Catholic. 0 6 8 24 - 38 Record: (5-4,5-4)

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter

05:15 PA - Robert Nichols 2 yd run (Trevor Sena kick), 12-80, PA 7 - ECC 0

04:53 PA - Robert Nichols 18 yd run (Trevor Sena kick), 2-30, PA 14 - ECC 0

01:48 PA - Cody Anderson 4 yd run (Trevor Sena kick), 4-16, PA 21 - ECC 0

2^nd Quarter

07:07 PA - Robert Nichols 6 yd pass from Willie Bova (Trevor Sena kick), 7-65, PA 28 - ECC 0

03:58 PA - Robert Nichols 66 yd run (Trevor Sena kick failed), 2-66, PA 34 - ECC 0

00:18 ECC - Kyle Mahoney 1 yd run (Pass failed), 13-78, PA 34 - ECC 6

3^rd Quarter

07:55 ECC - Alex Lecker 12 yd run (D. McCullough pass), 7-49, PA 34 - ECC 14

4th Quarter

11:57 ECC - Nick Bucheit 1 yd run (Mahoney run), 5-43, PA 34 - ECC 22

05:13 PA - Robert Nichols 5 yd run (Trevor Sena kick), 7-46, PA 41 - ECC 22

02:09 ECC - Alex Lecker 2 yd pass from Kyle Mahoney (Kyle Mahoney rush), 7-58, PA 41 - ECC 30

01:27 ECC - Kevin Genevro 61 yd pass from Kyle Mahoney (A. Mastrogiacomo pass), 1-61, PA 41 - ECC 

PA ECC

FIRST DOWNS................... 20 18

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)....... 51-325 37-163

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 72 201

Passes Comp-Att-Int........... 5-10-1 14-28-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.... 61-397 65-364

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 0-0

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-36 7-88

Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-19 1-37

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-37.0 1-34.0

Fumbles-Lost.................. 5-2 1-1

Penalties-Yards............... 5-44 4-32

Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 11 4 of 12

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 2 of 2 2 of 6

RUSHING: Port Allegany-Robert Nichols 29-271; Cody Anderson 5-23; Chad Saltsman 6-20; Willie Bova 9-10; Nick Nichols 2-1. Elk County Catholic-A. Mastrogiacomo 10-63; Kyle Mahoney 10-47; Nick Bucheit 10-29; Alex Lecker 4-20; E. Mastrogiacomo 2-5; Derec McCullough 1-minus 1.

PASSING: Port Allegany-Willie Bova 5-10-72, 1 touchdown, 1 interception. Elk County Catholic-Kyle Mahoney 14-28-201, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception.

RECEIVING: Port Allegany-R.J. Shively 2-41; Cody Anderson 1-13; Brian Mickle 1-12; Robert Nichols 1-6. Elk County Catholic-A.J. Seelye 5-62; Kevin Genevro 4-88; A. Mastrogiacomo 2-30; E. Mastrogiacomo 1-10; Alex Lecker 2-11.

INTERCEPTIONS: Port Allegany-Sam Johnson 1. Elk County Catholic-Steve Jacob 1.