Aiden Bliss and Port Allegany Run Past Wilmington and into the Class 1A Semifinals

Tagged under: District 10, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

Phil Myers | November 23, 2024

The Port Allegany Gator football team led by Aiden Bliss used a punishing ground attack to defeat Wilmington’s Greyhounds 38-20 and punch their ticket into the Class 1A state semifinals.  The game, played at Mansell Stadium in DuBois on a cold and wet night, was close until Port Allegany scored a pair of late third quarter touchdowns to give them the victory.

Aiden Bliss was the statistical star for the Gators by being his usual self, rushing for 293 yards, three touchdowns, and four 2-point conversions.  The Port line, on both sides of the ball, played a critical role too in wearing down a very good Wilmington Greyhound team.  Overall, Port Allegany rushed for 382 yards.

But two guys, not often mentioned, played huge roles in the Gator triumph too.  They are Kellen Veilleux and Gavin Moses.  Veilleux filled in for the injured 1,000-yard running back, Tristan Kiser, and scored a touchdown while rushing for 82 yards.  Moses had a pick six early in the third quarter that was possibly the main turning point of the game.  “Gavin Moses, he just led us to the state semifinals,” declared a happy Aiden Bliss.

“You don’t get any easy ones this time of year,” said Justin Bienkowski, Port Allegany’s head coach.  Even though the final score doesn’t show it, this game was close, it was back and forth until the final half of the third quarter.  That was when the Gators started to control things on both sides of the ball.

First, they drove 62 yards and scored on Veilleux’s one-yard run to increase their 22-20 lead to 30-20 after Bliss’s two-point run at 3:28 of the third.  Then the defense forced a fumble giving the Port offense good field position which they took advantage of.  The Gators scored again on Bliss’s third TD of the night to finish off the 42-yard drive.  His fourth two-point conversion put the game away as the lead grew to 38-20.

“Thirty-one (Bliss) is going to wear on you.  You might get him.  You might get him a couple of times.  But you are not going to get him for four quarters.  He works way too hard,” said Bienkowski.  He continued, “But I tell you what, we had kids play tonight who never took a varsity snap and they showed up and showed out for us.  I’m super proud of our kids.”

Aiden Bliss, Port Allegany.

The game began with Port Allegany driving 65 yards, and scoring on Bliss’s short run.  The drive was highlighted by Veilleux’s 24-yard run and Bliss’s 19-yarder.  Bliss ran in the two-point try and the Gators led 8-0 with just under nine minutes left in the opening quarter.

But Wilmington came to play too.  They answered with a 77-yard drive that ended when Chase Mitcheltree ran 5 yards for the score.  The two big plays in that drive were Mitcheltree’s 26-yard gallop and his 8-yard run on fourth down to keep the drive alive.  “They came out and scored an opening drive touchdown.  We answered and responded right back and I think it was a critical response,” said Coach Brandon Phillian of Wilmington.

The Greyhounds took the lead at 14-7 in the second quarter.  First of all, Mitcheltree recovered a Bliss fumble at the Wilmington 43.  Then, on the second play, Mitcheltree was off to the races as he scored on a 56-yard TD jaunt to put his team on top at the 7:07 mark.  Mitcheltree had a productive night’s work as he rushed for 185 yards on 23 carries and the two touchdowns.

Chase Mitcheltree, Wilmington.

Now it was Port Allegany who answered.  They drove 73 yards, the last 50 coming on Aiden Bliss’s marvelous run where he broke some tackles and headed down the Wilmington sideline.  He appeared to be pushed out of bounds but kept his feet in play and eventually dove into the end zone.  His two-point run sent Port into the lead 16-14.

Mitcheltree and Wilmington almost scored before the half but he was dragged down after a 40-yard gain to the Gator 40-yard line.  That was when the Port Allegany defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs seconds before the half ended.

“The biggest struggle was getting lined up right,” said Bienkowski, “we talked at halftime on making some adjustments on some alignments.  They come out of the huddle so damn fast.  They know what they’re doing.  Our guys adjusted at halftime.  We knew we had to stay within ourselves and play our game and they had to feel us for two more quarters.”

The third quarter poorly for Wilmington.  They received the second half kickoff with a chance to regain the lead.  But a second down pass was intercepted by Moses and returned about 18 yards for a touchdown.  That put Port Allegany up 22-14 as the two-point run failed this time.  “That was no doubt one of the turning points in the game.  We had an opportunity and for them to get a quick, easy score, there’s no doubt that was unfortunate for us,” said Phillian.

But Wilmington answered back once again.  This time quarterback Wesley Vass-Gal found a wide-open Freddie Zehetner for a 54-yard scoring strike.  The two-point run by Mitcheltree fell just short of the goal line and Port clung to a two point lead once again, 22-20.

From there it appeared the momentum swung in favor of the Greyhounds.  Cam Kettering recovered another fumble by Bliss near midfield, but the Gator defense forced a three and out to turn the tide.  That was the moment when Port took over and dominated the final 18 minutes scoring twice toward the end of the third quarter and cruising in the fourth to the victory.

Port Allegany outgained Wilmington in total yards 405 to 288.  Bliss carried the football 35 times in the game.  He gives all the credit to his teammates, “My offensive line never stops blocking.  Our receivers never stop blocking.  I was really proud to be a part of it.”

“That’s one phenomenal organization,” said Bienkowski, “Coach Phillian is one of the nicest dudes I’ve ever met on the football field.  I got nothing but absolute respect for that program.”

Coach Phillian had praise for Port Allegany also, “Credit to Port Allegany.  They did a good job.  I think they did a nice job up front on the line of scrimmage.  I tip my hat to them for a strong performance.”  He also said, “I thought early on we did a good job.  I felt we did a good job defensively to force some turnovers, but we just came up short on a few critical moments on offense in the second half.”

Wilmington finishes their season at 8-3.  Coach Phillian humbly said this about his team, “So proud of the effort they gave this season.  So proud of how they represented our school and community.  We have a young team and we’re excited to run it back next year and do it all again.”

Meanwhile Port Allegany goes to 13-0 and awaits the winner of Clairton and Fort Cherry in the state semis next week.

Game Highlights

Score by Quarters:

Wilmington – 7 7 6 0 – 20

Port Allegany – 8 8 22 0 – 38

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

PA – Aiden Bliss 2-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 8:57

W – Chase Mitcheltree 5-yard run, (Ryder Tervo PAT), 4:09

Second Quarter:

W – Mitcheltree 56-yard run, (Tervo PAT), 7:07

PA – Bliss 50-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 3:12

Third Quarter:

PA – Gavin Moses 18-yard interception return, (2-pt. run no good), 11:02

W – Freddie Zehetner 54-yard pass from Wesley Vass-Gal, (2-pt. run no good), 8:41

PA – Kellen Veilleux 1-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 3:28

PA – Bliss 2-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 1:45

Fourth Quarter:

No Scoring

Individual Stats:

Rushing: W – Chase Mitcheltree 23-185, Jamie Miller 8-28, Cael Kettering 4-4. Totals: 35-217.  PA – Aiden Bliss 35-293, Kellen Veilleux 13-82, Nick Wilfong 1-7. Totals: 49-382.

Passing: W – Wesley Vass-Gal 1-8-1, 54 yards, 1 TD, Mitcheltree 1-1-0, 17 yards.  Totals: 2-9-1, 71 yards, 1 TD.  PA Brennan Fillhart 3-6-0, 23 yards.

Receiving: W – Freddie Zehetner 2-71, TD.  PA – Wilfong 3-23.

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