By Rich Rhoades

Port Allegany quarterback Matt Bodamer keeps chalking up big numbers, the Gators keep winning and they’re one of five remaining unbeatens in District 9 heading into Week 8 of the high school football season.

All 15 games are scheduled for Friday night this week and at first glance, it appears there are several tough calls among games involving playoff contenders and teams with losing records right across the board.

Speaking of Bodamer, the Gators senior now owns the state record in career touchdown passes after surpassing Lancaster Catholic’s Kyle Smith last Saturday in a win over Sheffield. He now stands at 120 touchdowns to go along with his becoming just the third quarterback in state history to surpass 9,000 passing yards.

Now at 9,188 yards, Bodamer is closing in on No. 2 Brendan Nosovitch of Allentown Central Catholic’s mark of 9,249 yards. With 62 yards, Bodamer would climb into second place on the state’s all-time list behind another District 9 passer, Brockway’s Derek Buganza’s record total of 9,752 yards. With four more games guaranteed, Bodamer appears certain to reach Buganza’s record before he throws his final high school pass.

For the year, Bodamer has passed for 2,191 yards with 35 touchdowns and just two interceptions. In his last 11 games dating back to last year’s first district playoff game, Bodamer has thrown 51 TD passes against just three interceptions.

Bodamer is also approaching another milestone with his legs. He needs 154 yards rushing the rest of the way to reach 2,000 for his career. He’s rushed for 34 touchdowns.

Playoff Picture

Class A

Six of the eight possible playoff berths have been clinched. Those who are in are Port Allegany, Brockway, Clarion, Curwensville, Elk County Catholic and Union. At this point, Smethport is No. 7 and A-C Valley is No. 8, but Coudersport, Sheffield, Johnsonburg, Otto-Eldred and Keystone are a game back.

Class AA

It’s a four-team bracket that’s pretty much filled with Karns City, Brookville, St. Marys and Kane filling the field. Moniteau isn’t mathematically eliminated, but the 1-6 Warriors’ chances of defending their first and only district title have just about dried up.

Class AAA

Unbeaten Clearfield will be one of the two teams in the championship game. Bradford is in must-win mode if the Owls want to beat out the Chucks for the second spot.

Class AAAA

Unbeaten DuBois is sitting in first place in the District 6-9 sub-regional standings with 660 ranking points. State College (5-2) is second at 620 with Mifflin County (3-4) and Central Mountain (3-4) in third and fourth place with 330 and 260 points respectively. Up to four teams can qualify for the tournament.

Conference Races

Allegheny Mountain League

North Division: Port Allegany clinched.

South Division: Brockway clinches division with a win at home against Johnsonburg or a

Curwensville loss at home to Elk County Catholic

AML Championship game: Will be played in Week 10, one week after Brockway and Port Allegany play a regular-scheduled game.

KSAC-Large School

Still up in the air, but will be decided in Week 9 when Karns City visits Brookville. The Gremlins beat Punxsutawney last week to improve to 3-0 in the division. The Chucks, who beat Brookville, are tied with the Raiders in second place at 2-1. If Brookville beats Karns City at home, it will create a three-way unbreakable tie for the division title. A Karns City win, naturally, claims the title outright for the Gremlins.

KSAC-Small School

Clarion clinches title with a win over A-C Valley next week.

District 10 Region 5

DuBois and Slippery Rock are the lone unbeatens and their game this week at Warren and at home against the Rockets in Week 10 will decide which team wins the region title.

Mountain League

Clearfield clinches the title with a win over Bald Eagle Area this week or a Central-Martinsburg loss at Bellefonte.

This Week’s Schedule

Allegheny Mountain League

Brockway could sew up the AML-South at Johnsonburg (2-5). The Rovers are coming off a big win at Elk County Catholic last Saturday night and they keep scoring points. Quarterback Alec Shaffer-Doan ranks second behind Bodamer in touchdowns and yardage with 1,540 and 16. Chad Melillo has rushed for 900 yards and 16 touchdowns. Jacob Perrin has caught 37 balls for 630 yards and eight touchdowns. For Johnsonburg, Quarterback Frank Kocjancic (864 yards, 9 TDs) and receiver Mitchell Holmberg (41-629, 7 TDs) lead the Rams’ offense.

Curwensville (6-1) hosts Elk County Catholic (5-2) in an interesting matchup. Tide running back Zach Tibbens (997 yards, 14 TDs) is set to go over the 1,000-yard milestone while Jed Greslick (757 yards, 7 TDs) isn’t far behind. The Crusaders will try to stop a two-game losing streak. Brock McCullough (660 yards, 6 TDs) and Hank Cappiello (507 yards, 6 TDs) lead the Crusaders’ run-oriented offense.

Also in the AML-South, Kane (4-3) travels to Ridgway (1-6). The Wolves try to bolster their status in the Class AA playoff race. Quarterback Sean Jordan (1,131 yards, 13 TDs) and running back Jonah Smith (855 yards, 8 TDs) lead the Wolves.

Port Allegany goes on the road to 1-6 Cameron County Friday night. While Bodamer did his thing in the record book, senior receiver Tyce Miller caught three touchdown passes to establish a new career record that now stands at 32. He also is the district’s all-time receiving yardage leader at 2,462 yards. For the year, Miller (43-822, 14 TDs) and Nick Conway (37-740, 12 TDs) rank 1-2 in the district in receiving yardage.

In other AML-North games Friday night, Coudersport hosts Otto-Eldred in a battle of two 2-5 teams. Sheffield (2-5) travels to Smethport (3-4).

KSAC

It’s a crossover-themed schedule this weekend in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference as four games pit the Small School Division against the Large School Division.

Punxsutawney (3-4) at Clarion (7-0)

Clarion (7-0) is off to its best start since 2000 hosts Punxsutawney (4-3) at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium. While the Bobcats are on the verge of winning another Small School Division title, the Chucks are fighting for the playoff lives in Class AAA. Fighting Bradford for the second spot behind unbeaten Clearfield, the Chucks will likely have to win their final two games and hope Bradford loses at least once.

For Clarion, it’s been a strong season on the scoreboard as the Bobcats have outscored opponents by an average over 34.1 points per game. They’ve allowed more than 14 points just once. Offensively, Damien Slike (470 yards, 6 TDs), T.J. Armstrong (464 yards, 10 TDs) and Ian Corbett (278 yards) lead the running game. Quarterback John Katis has passed for 819 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Chucks quarterback Garrett Zimmerman (725 yards, 10 TDs), running backs Jamie Bush (470 yards, 3 TDs) and Christian Falgout (589 yards, 6 TDs) and receiver Clayton Dale (13 catches, 214 yards) lead the Punxsutawney offense.

Other KSAC-related games

Union (6-1) heads to Moniteau (1-6). Both teams are led by their quarterbacks. Union quarterback Brody Shick has passed for 819 yards and nine touchdowns while intercepting eight passes on defense. Moniteau’s Dustin Geagan has moved to the QB spot and still leads the team in rushing with 662 yards and eight touchdowns.

Brookville (5-2) will try to rebound from its blowout loss at DuBois last week at winless Clarion-Limestone (0-7). The Lions have lost a team-record 16 straight games dating back to their last win in the season-opener last year.

St. Marys (3-4) treks to Redbank Valley (0-7) trying to solidify its playoff status in Class AA. The Dutch are run-heavy, led by the district’s leading rusher in Alex Feldbauer who broke the 1,000-yard milestone last week. He’s run for 1,169 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 26 carries a game. The Bulldogs are 0-7 for the first time since 1951.

Two KSAC teams play District 10 opponents this week. Keystone (2-5) hosts Mercer (1-6) while Karns City (5-2) hosts Oil City (2-5).

District 10 Region 5

DuBois (6-0) at Warren (6-1)

The Beavers’ 53-point effort in their rout of Brookville last week actually dropped them in the state rankings in points per game to second overall at 53.5 behind Port Allegany’s 54.9. Their offense may be needed in a trip to take on the Warren Dragons in a key Region 5 matchup.

Just DuBois and Slippery Rock remain unbeaten in the region and Warren’s lone loss was a 42-20 loss to the Rockets in Week 6.

The Beavers have a couple of sophomores turning in impressive rookie seasons. Quarterback Gabe French has completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 1,170 yards with 13 touchdowns. His top receiver is sophomore Bryson Paulinellie (22-428, 9 TDs). Senior Garrett Miles (23-214) is also a receiving threat as well, leading a list of 14 different players who have caught balls from Beavers quarterbacks this year.

But it’s not just passing. Senior running back Garrett Brown is ready to go over 1,000 yards rushing with 937 and 16 touchdowns. He’s averaging a whopping 10.3 yards per carry.

Warren’s top threat is quarterback Austin Jerman. He’s passed for 965 yards and 15 touchdowns against just three interceptions and rushed for 457 yards and six scores.

Bradford (3-4) at Meadville (3-4)

Also in Region 5, Bradford travels to Meadville in a matchup between 3-4 squads. The Owls are battling Punxsutawney for that second and final Class AAA playoff berth. Quarterback Matt Yurkewicz leads the Owls running attack with 549 yards and seven touchdowns.

Mountain League

Clearfield (7-0) at Bald Eagle Area (5-2)

Coming off a hard-fought win at Tyrone last week, the Bison keep on rolling and head to Wingate to take on the Eagles in a Mountain League game. Clearfield is the lone unbeaten in the league and can clinch the title with a win over the Eagles.

Quarterback Christian Lezzer’s solid season continues. He’s up to 818 yards passing with 12 touchdowns and 796 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Tyler Stratton has rushed for 753 yards and six scores while Lezzer’s top receiving target is Trey Jordan (21-643, 11 TDs).

BEA beat Huntingdon, 35-26, last week and fell to Tyrone, 54-6, two weeks ago. The Bison just beat Tyrone 14-13 and topped Huntingdon, 41-24, in Week 4.