Panthers Send Gators Back to the Swamps
Supported by a large crowd of spectators, the mighty Panthers of Portville disposed of
the A-L Gators 31-7 on a cool Friday night, perfect for football. PCS finishes the regular season at 7-1 and now prepares
for the first round of the playoffs.
The Gators upset Portville last year, the only loss of the regular season, so the home
team was pumped up for another tough go at it. Allegany played hard, especially in the first half, but Portville's offensive
machine and elastic defense were too much...to the delight of the many Panther fans.
PCS QB Brian Nitsche initiated the scoring in the first quarter, when a broken pass play
resulted in a 67-yard zig-zag run to the end zone. "The kid reminds me of our QB John Depp back in '78," noted Panther
alumnus and Internet celebrity Moke Jaekle. "I couldn't miss seeing Brian and company roll over our nemesis."
In the 2nd quarter, Nitsche hit Kirk Austin for a 11-yard strike for gold - the wide
reciever's 7th of the season. Kirk also had two big interceptions during the contest, while Matt Miller recovered a
Gator fumble.
Kris Young made his 3rd field goal of the year in the 3rd quarter, a 25-yarder that put
Portville up 17-0. Josh Haynes took back a couple of his patented punt returns for good gains, and RB Alex Woodhead
ran the ball well with his partner in the backfield, Joe Holcomb.
Joe scored the final 2 TDs of the game - runs from 20 and 6 yards out, giving him 13
total for the '04 campaign. Lineman Ross Degolier had one of his best games, while Matt Steen, Colin Sullivan, George
Lewis, Walt Harris and other youngbloods got a chance to taste some of the action.
Big Joe had 24 carries for 196 yards rushing, while Brian had 113 yards on 5 attempts,
plus 3 of 7 in passing...2 to Kirk and one to Brad Holcomb. Alex had 6 carries for 59 yards running.
Portville only had five penalties and two punts. They had 15 first downs, 2 interceptions,
and one fumble lost.
Alle-Lime scored with less than 2 minutes to go, but the big rivalry's "rocking chair"
goes back to School Street this year.
Portville travels to Cleveland Hill for the first round of the playoffs
- Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1:30 pm.
