BRADFORD, Pa. – Noah Archer scored three touchdowns and intercepted a pair of passes on defense as No. 1 Port Allegany punched its ticket to the District 9 Class 1A championship game with an 18-6 win over Keystone.
Rewatch the game:
Archer ran for 161 yards on 18 carries and also caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Drew Evens in the first half on his way to Allegheny Grille of Foxburg Player of the Game honors.
Archer’s interception of Drew Keth stopped Keystone’s opening drive of the game inside the Gators’ 10-yard line.
“They were running the ball down the field on us,” Archer said. “We bent the whole way down the field but we couldn’t break. I was playing a zone, he ran a post, I kind of came up on it, the ball floated over him and I was in the right position.”
See Archer’s full interview:
The Gators (10-1) double up No. 4 Keystone (7-5) in total yardage, 426-213. They were also incredibly balanced with 224 yards rushing and 202 yards passing from Drew Evens.
Archer broke the ice at the 9:52 mark of the second quarter with a 9-yard touchdown run.
With 1:10 to go before halftime, the Gators drove the length of the field in two plays, with Evens completing a 39-yard pass to Peyton Stiles, followed by Evens’ 25-yard scoring strike to Archer.
Archer extended the lead to 18-0 in the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run, which was more than enough for the Gator defense.
Keystone scored with 6:41 to play in the fourth quarter on Keth’s 7-yard strike to Tyler Albright, but that was all Port allowed, thanks to a defensive effort led in part by Miska Young, who had two tackles for loss.
Archer also had nine tackles (8 solo) and Blaine Moses had 4.5 tackles to go along with his 50 yards rushing on offense. Stiles finished with six receptions for 138 yards.
Keth was 9-of-23 passing with one touchdown and three interceptions (Evens also had an interception for the Gators), while Kyle Nellis had 64 yards on the ground and Aidan Sell 48.
The win for Port Allegany sets up a matchup with No. 3 Brockway for the D9 title next Friday (7 p.m.) at Bradford.
