Aiden Bliss Scores Five TDs and Port Allegany Pounds Fort Cherry to Reach the State Finals for the First Time Ever
Tagged under: District 7, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Phil Myers | November 30, 2024
Port Allegany, thanks to a huge second quarter, mercy-ruled Fort Cherry 46-8 at PennWest-Clarion’s Memorial field last night. Not only did the Gator offense, led by Aiden Bliss, control the game, Port’s defense held one of the best offenses and one of the best players in D7 to one measly touchdown and minimal yardage for the game. It was a complete team effort from start to finish.
“I don’t know what the hell to say guys, I’m very proud of our kids and coaches. Our kids executed a game plan we put in as coaches to a tee. District 9 plays some damn good football too. And we play a physical brand of football. It doesn’t matter what the weather is, we’re going to come out and do our thing,” said Port’s head coach Justin Bienkowski.
In many corners the result of this game was surprising, but not so to the teams that have played Port Allegany this year. The Gators are well-coached, they have a line that may be second to none at the Class 1A level, and they have a not-so secret weapon in Aiden Bliss. He deflected any accolades by saying his offensive line, “is outstanding.” “A group of running backs can only do so much, it’s the offensive line who paves the way and they’ve done everything for us. A different thing came alive inside of them tonight.”
Aiden Bliss might not be the fastest guy on the football field but he has an uncanny knack to find space and break tackles. That ability allows him to amass yardage like no other back in the history of District 9. In fact, only ten other running backs have ever surpassed the 3,000-yard mark in a single year in the state of Pennsylvania. Bliss is now the 11th to do so. “We worked so hard for this. It’s a dream come true. It’s a thing you dream of when you’re a little kid,” stated Bliss. He had himself a game to say the least. Behind a big, bruising line, he rushed for 294 yards on 35 carries and scored five touchdowns. He now has 3,174 yards running the ball this year and has scored 53 rushing touchdowns. That is a career for many players.
On the other side of the ball, this had to be one of the greatest defensive performances in Port Allegany football history. The Gators held Fort Cherry to 8 points and a paltry 133 yards on 48 plays. They also forced five turnovers. The Fort Cherry Rangers came into the game averaging 40 points and 379 yards per contest. On top of that, Port Allegany’s defense limited the Rangers’ star junior quarterback, Matt Sieg, to 35 yards rushing and 56 yards passing plus they sacked him a couple of times. Sieg has compiled over 10,000 yards of offense himself in just three years. That, in itself, says how well the defense played.
Except for a pair of runs, Sieg #3 had nowhere to go against the Port Allegany Gator defense.
When asked what the number one priority was coming into the game, Bienkowski said, “I’d be an idiot if I didn’t say our number one priority was to make sure #3 (Sieg) was within our sight.” “I’m so proud of our defensive coaches,” said Bienkowski, “We were in a meeting Sunday morning, a lot longer than most Sunday mornings, just trying to figure out a plan to make sure we could keep Sieg under control.” “That’s a talented football team and a class program.”
Port Allegany won the toss and took the ball to begin the game. The Gators then embarked on an 11-play scoring drive that used up almost seven minutes of time. The three highlights of the 54-yard drive were a successful 4th down run at Ft. Cherry’s 45, Kellen Veilleux’s 18-yard run, and Bliss’s first TD ramble of the night from 13 yards out. Every play in the drive was a run, which was the theme for the night as Port only attempted one pass for the whole game.
After Fort Cherry got a first down on Sieg’s 19-yard run, Port’s defense came up with a 4th down sack of Sieg giving the ball back to their offense at the Fort 36. It took seven plays for Port to score when Bliss plunged in from a yard away on the second snap of the second quarter. Bliss then tacked on his second of five consecutive two-point conversions to give the Gators a 16-0 lead.
The first of three great kick returns by Fort Cherry gave them the ball at the Port Allegany 29, but after a penalty gave them a first down, Port’s defense stopped the Rangers on 4th down again at the Gator sixteen. Fort Cherry then forced a three and out. Port Allegany’s subsequent punt by Veilleux, the first of only two for the night, sailed a 50-yards to the Fort 31-yard line.
That is where things really started falling apart for Fort Cherry. On the first play, Sieg looked like he handed the ball to Ryan Huey but then pulled it back out, like a read option, but the ball fell loose. Port’s Isaac Postlewait was in the right place and he scooped up the ball on the run and went 21 yards untouched for the score.
Kelvin Burgess was the next Gator defensive player to make a play when he intercepted Sieg at the Port Allegany 26. It took all of four Bliss runs to put the score at 32-0 in favor of the Gators. Bliss’s runs of 29, 3, and 35 yards put the ball on the Ranger seven. Bliss, now pretty much consistently running form the wildcat, then scored on a 7-yard run.
Aiden Bliss #31 with his third of five TDs, a 7-yard run.
Fort Cherry’s only score came with 20 seconds left in the half when Sieg found an opening and scrambled in to score an 11-yard TD. His two-point run cut the Port lead to 32-8 at the intermission.
Next to Port Allegany scoring on the first possession of the game, their defensive stand to open the second half may have been the most important series of the game and it spelled doom for the Rangers. “We went into the locker room at halftime and talked, ‘just relax, stay within yourselves, do not get too worried, do not get too frustrated. Just relax,” was what Bienkowski said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” said Bliss, “I told them at halftime that we weren’t going to get this taken from us. We put too many hours in it and dreamed too long for this moment to lose this.”
Bliss scored twice in the third quarter on longer runs. The first one, a 43-yard jaunt, came after the Ranger turn over on downs to start the third quarter. The next Port drive resulted in Bliss scoring his fifth TD on a 35-yard saunter. That score put Port up 46-8 and invoked the Mercy Rule. “They’re an outstanding team. They came out and were ready to play, but it just fell our way,” said a very happy Aiden Bliss, “It was a special thing tonight. We have 23 guys on the team and we’re going to the state finals!”
Fort Cherry ends their season with a 14-1 record. Port Allegany is now 14-0 and will face Bishop Guilfoyle in the finals at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg next Thursday afternoon.
Score by Quarters:
Fort Cherry – 0 8 0 0 – 8
Port Allegany – 8 24 14 0 – 46
Scoring Summary:
First Quarter:
PA – Aiden Bliss 13-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 5:07
Second Quarter:
PA – Bliss 1-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 11:20
PA – Isaac Postlewait 21-yard fumble return, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 6:48
PA – Bliss 7-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion, 4:17
FC – Matt Sieg 11-yard run, (Sieg run 2-pt. conversion), 0:20
Third Quarter:
PA – Bliss 43-yard run, (Bliss run 2-pt. conversion), 7:53
PA – Bliss 35-yard run, (2-pt. run failed), 3:44
Fourth Quarter:
No Scoring
Individual Stats:
Rushing: FC – Matt Sieg 14-35, Ryan Huey 10-43, Eli Salvini 3-15, Christian Yanosko 1-2, Shane Cornali 1-(8), Team 1-(10). Totals: 30-77. PA – Aiden Bliss 35-294, Kellen Veilleux 7-43, Nick Wilfong 2-10, Brennan Fillhart 1-(2), Team 1-(10). Totals: 45-335.
Passing: FC – Matt Sieg 5-18-2, 56 yards. PA – Brennan Fillhart 0-1-0, 0 yards.
Receiving: FC – Nick Massey 2-35, Shane Cornali 2-9, Braydon Cook 1-12. Totals: 5-56.
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