Reynolds falls to Port Allegany in PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals
Nov. 26—The fantastic season of coach Josh Mull's Reynolds High Raiders (11-2) came to an end on Friday night with a 42-8 loss to Port Allegany (12-1) in the PIAA Class 1A quarterfinals at Bradford High School's Parkway Field.
"As a team, we are disappointed about the loss," said Mull. "Life is full of disappointments. If we allow that to control us, that's when we have truly been defeated. Champions continue to move forward and that's what the Raiders will do.
"We ran into a really good team. They are well-coached and I talked to the head coach (Justin Bienkowski) after the game and he thought it was the best they played this year. My hats off to them and wish them the best of luck in the future."
Reynolds captured its third straight District 10 championship last weekend while the Gators grabbed the District 9 title.
Port Allegany took a 6-0 lead against the Raiders with 8:12 left in the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Blaine Moses. The extra-point kick failed due to a bad snap.
The Gators pulled away in the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns to take a 22-0 lead. Moses caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Evens with 9:55 left in the half and then Evens scored on a 15-yard run. Noah Archer and Evens added 2-point conversion runs after both scores.
The Gators took a 35-0 in the third quarter on a pair of touchdowns by Archer. He caught a 45-yard scoring strike from Evens and had a 6-yard touchdown run.
Reynolds finally got on the board with 3:12 left in the third frame when quarterback Brayden McCloskey fired a 17-yard TD pass to Haydin McLaughlin.
Port Allegany tacked on a final touchdown with 6:02 left in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run by Moses, who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards this season. He entered the game with 988.
Reynolds' senior running back Jalen Wagner closed out his amazing high school career on Friday. He entered the game with 2,698 rushing yards this season, which is a school record. The Mercer County single-season rushing record is 2,974 yards, set by Lakeview's Blake Reddick in 2013.
Wagner set school records in both single-season and career rushing yards. The previous recordholder was Ron Park, who graduated in 1987.
According to stats submitted by Port Allegany, Wagner had 22 carries for 116 yards on Friday. McCloskey was 7-of-21 for 77 yards. McLaughlin had four catches for 44 yards.
SportsRadio 96.7 Sports Director Bob Greenburg tweeted some final numbers on Wagner: 2,821 rushing yards this season, 5,341 for his career along with 37 touchdowns this year and 71 TDs for his career.
McCloskey entered Friday's game with 1,669 passing yards, which is a single-season record for the Raiders' program.
For Port Allegany, Evens was 11-of-13 for 176 yards while Moses rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries. Archer caught six passes for 140 yards.
"I told the kids at the end of the game that we have to remember the good times and all the great things that happened," said Mull, who said he wouldn't have his final stats until he watched the game film this weekend.
"The good thing is the sun will come up tomorrow and we'll move on with our lives and look back at a great season and all the record-breaking things that happened. It's hard to be disappointed when you win a district title and you want to continue that success, but all good things come to an end."
All-time, Reynolds is 4-1-1 against District 9 opponents while Port Allegany is 2-1 against teams from Mercer County. This season's D-9 title was the third in Gators' history and this was the team's fourth-ever appearance in the state playoffs.
Port Allegany's only PIAA playoff win came in the 2011 quarterfinals against Sharpsville, 35-33. That Gators team was led by quarterback Matt Bodamer, who passed for 10,945 career yards.
Port Allegany advances to the PIAA semifinals to play the Union Scotties, who upset Bishop Canevin (26-0) on Friday in the District 7 championship game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Union was the 10th seed and knocked off the top-seeded and defending D-7 champs. It was Union's first WPIAL title since 1958.
Note: Some stats and info courtesy of Ryan Briggs, Herald sports correspondent, and Jeff Uveino, sports writer at the Bradford Era.
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PIAA CLASS 1A QUARTERFINALS
REYNOLDS 0 0 8 0 8
P. ALLEGANY 6 16 13 7 42
Scoring plays
PA — Moses, 3 run (kick failed)
PA — Moses, 17 pass from Evens (Archer run)
PA — Evens, 15 run (Moses run)
PA — Archer, 45 pass from Evens (run failed)
PA — Archer, 6 run (Funk kick)
R — McLaughlin, 17 pass from McCloskey (S.Gentile catch)
PA — Moses, 10 run (Funk kick)
Team stats
REYNOLDS P.ALLEGANY
13 First downs 22
112 Rushing yards 272
77 Passing yards 176
21-8-0 Att-comp-int 13-11-0
189 Total yards 448
1-1 Fumbles-lost 0-0
3-30 Penalties-yards lost 4-50
Individual stats
Rushing: REYNOLDS — Wagner 22-116, McLaughlin 2-4, McCloskey 5-(-8); PORT ALLEGANY — Moses 15-111, Archer 14-85, Evens 8-58, Stiles 2-18, team 2-0.
Passing: REYNOLDS — McCloskey 21-7-0-77; PORT ALLEGANY — Evens 13-11-0-176.
Receiving: REYNOLDS — McLaughlin 4-44, McCloskey 3-35, S.Gentile 1-(-2); PORT ALLEGANY — Archer 6-140, Moses 3-27, Stiles 2-9.
