SMETHPORT, Pa. – Noah Archer and Blaine Moses both ran for over 100 yards and two touchdowns and Port Allegany’s defense was dominant in a 28-0 Region 2 win over Smethport.
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It broke a six-game losing streak to their Route 6 rivals for the Gators, who last beat Smethport in 2015.
Rewatch the game
It was part of a monster game for Archer, who also had two interceptions on defense on his way to earning Allegheny Grille of Foxburg player of the game honors.
He talked about the win:
Defensively, the Gators (2-1) limited the Hubbers (1-2) to 81 yards of total offense, just 13 of which came on the ground.
“We enjoyed it a lot,” Archer said. “We didn’t come out very hot but we woke up a little bit in the second half. It wasn’t pretty the whole time, but a gritty win like that is better than a loss.”
The Hubs’ defense stood tall in the first half as well, with Archer’s 15-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds to go in the first quarter the lone score of the first half.
Things began to open up in the second half for Port Allegany, particularly in the run game. The Gators had 310 of their 342 yards of offense come on the ground.
The Port defense stood tall after the second-half kickoff was returned by JoJo Leet into Gator territory.
After getting the ball back, the Gators marched quickly down the field, with Moses punctuating the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
Archer and Moses both found the end zone again, as Smethport’s defense, which had been solid throughout the game, began to tire.
Archer scored on a 3-yard run with 1:51 to go in the third quarter and Moses put the finishing touches on the game with a 5-yard score with 2:26 remaining in the fourth.
Archer finished with 150 yards on 23 totes and Moses 142 yards on 21 carries.
“It’s a blast (to run behind the Gators’ offensive line),” Archer said. “They’re smart and they’re always putting the work in. It’s just fun to run behind them.”
Miska Young had a big game on defense for the Gators with three tackles for loss, while Peyton Stiles had two stops behind the line of scrimmage.
For Smethport, Preston Alfieri was 9-of-28 for 68 yards through the air, with 37 of those going to Aiden McKean.
