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MERCY, MERCY: Port Allegany Dominates Reynolds, 42-8, to Move on to the PIAA Class A Semifinals

BRADFORD, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It was a command performance from a team that is playing its best football of the year.

A team that not only has the support of the community, but also from all of District 9.

Port Allegany didn’t let Reynolds, the three-time District 10 champion, breathe.

The Gators jumped out to a 22-0 halftime lead and then scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter to move ahead 35-0 and trigger the mercy clock on the way to a 42-8, dominating win over the Raiders in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals at Bradford on Friday night.

(Submitted photo)

Port showed no mercy.

Like he’s done all season, senior bruising back Blaine Moses was a big factor, plowing in from the 3 to give Port Allegany an early 6-0 lead.

The drive was kept alive by a big conversion on fourth-and-1 when Archer hauled in a pass from quarterback Drew Evens.

The flood gates opened in the second quarter when Evens found Moses on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Archer added the 2-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.

Seven minutes later, Evens scrambled 15 yards for a touchdown. Again, Port converted on a fourth-and-short to keep the drive alive.

Moses plowed into the end zone on the 2-point conversion and Port carried a 22-0 lead into the break.

Reynolds came into the game with a dangerous offense led by senior running back Jalon Wagner, who had piled up nearly 2,700 yards rushing and 37 touchdowns this season.

Wagner broke off a few long runs, but the Gator defense held.

The back-breaker came midway through the third quarter when Evens found Archer for a 45-yard TD pass to put Port Allegany up 28-0 on shellshocked Reynolds.

Things got worse for the Raiders just a minute later.

After coughing up the football on the first play of the ensuring drive, Reynolds watched as Port triggered the mercy rule on a 6-yard run by Archer.

With the game already decided, Reynolds finally cracked the scoreboard on a 17-yard touchdown strike from Brayden McCloskey to Hayden McLaughlin to trim the lead to 35-8 late in the third.

Moses put the exclamation point on one of the biggest wins in Port Allegany history with a 10-yard TD run.

Moses finished with 111 yards on 16 carries with a pair of TDs. Archer added 103 yards on 16 carries and Evens was 10 of 12 for 172 yards and two TDs.

The Gators held Wagner to 113 yards on 21 carries.

Port Allegany outgained Reynolds 454-190.

The Gators (12-1) will move on to play District 7 champion Union-New Castle in the Class A semifinals on either Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

The Scotties stunned No. 1 seed Bishop Canevin, 26-0, on Friday at Acrisure Stadium to move on.

Union-New Castle (11-3) was the 10th seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs and was making its first appearance in the district championship game since 1973. It was the Scotties’ first championship since 1959 when they shared the crown with Avonworth.

As the last D9 football team alive, the rest of the district has rallied around the Gators.

Brockway coach Jake Heigel, whose team lost to Port last week in the district championship, tweeted before the game, “D9 vs Everybody GO PORT.”