PORT ALLEGANY – It was a Coudy day on a cloudy day as the
Falcons cleared the picture in the Allegheny Mountain League North
Division with a decisive 18-0 victory over Port Allegany on
Saturday.

With the rest of the North struggling below the .500 mark, it
was evident the winner of the Coudersport-Port contest would be one
step closer to the AML title game at 3-0 and the loser would be a
game back plus the tiebreaker.

“This win is huge,” said Paul Simcoe, Coudy head coach. “Whoever
won this game was in the driver’s seat.”

Coudy threatened on its first possession of the contest when a
22-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Boomer Wetzel to Sam Decker
and a 15-yard run by Chris Cavallari put the Falcons at the Port
11, but three plays later Cody Anderson intercepted at the goal
line and brought it out to the 18.

After the Falcons’ defense forced a three-and-out on the Gators’
initial possession, a 21-yard jaunt by David Babcock gave Coudy a
first down at the Port 33. The Falcons’ offense then went in
reverse with a pair of penalties totaling 25 yards, but the field
position was still Coudy’s when Caleb Morris rolled his punt out of
bounds at the 1-yard line.

Once again Port failed to move the chains and a shanked punt put
the ball back in the visitors’ hands at the Gators’ 25.

Babcock carried three times for eight yards, nine yards and then
a one-yard touchdown off left guard. The extra point was wide right
and it was 6-0 Coudy with 37 seconds left in the opening
quarter.

Port then used a 40-yard aerial from Willie Bova to R.J. Shively
to move into Coudy territory, but a nine-yard sack by Andy Chisholm
ended the drive.

The Falcons started from their 26 and utilized a 17-yard run by
Decker and a 15-yard pass interference infraction to set up a
second-and-11 from the Port 23.

Wetzel then hit Decker in the right flats and the 5-11,
160-pound junior benefited from a teeth-shattering block by
Cavallari at the 17 to rumble into the end zone. The pass for two
failed and it was 12-0 with 4:53 left in the half.

“That was a tremendous block over here on the sideline,” Simcoe
recalled. “The receiver (Decker) came back for the ball and he
(Cavallari) cleaned that guy’s clock.”

Following another Gator punt, Coudy struck on the very first
snap from the Port 34 when Wetzel located a wide-open Logan
Hathaway inside the 10 and Hathaway crossed the end line. Once
again the pass for the two-pointer was denied, but Coudy was in
complete control at 18-0 with 3:45 showing.

“I think they (Gators) were looking for us to run the ball and
all he (Wetzel) had to do was lay it out there,” Simcoe said of the
touchdown.

“Those points were big. The way our defense was playing, I felt
pretty comfortable.”

Port did threaten before the intermission with three first downs
to the Coudy 28, but Decker picked off a pass in the left corner of
the end zone to preserve the 18-point margin at the break.

“We had a few drives and we couldn’t finish them,” said Mike
Bodamer, Port head coach. “They (Falcons) put a lot of pressure on
Willie (Bova) and he didn’t have much time to throw.”

The Gators got a break with 5:31 left in the third stanza when
Bobby Nichols recovered a fumble at his own 40. A pass interference
penalty and a 20-yard strike from Bova to Anderson moved Port to
the Coudy 24.

Then on a fourth-and-14, a massive Brandon Smith tracked down
Bova for a 15-yard sack and the possession was over.

“The Smith kid never gave up and that was a heck of a play for a
guy who is 6-4 and weighs 265 pounds,” Simcoe stated. “We got some
great pressure (four sacks) on the quarterback today.”

The Falcons had one more opportunity for points early in the
fourth quarter when a bad punt snap turned the pigskin over at the
Port 12, but a 37-yard field goal attempt against the wind by
Morris was short.

Wetzel was 5-for-9 for 95 yards, Babcock rushed 15 times for 77
yards, Decker had 70 yards on 14 totes and Cavallari made eight
tackles for Coudy (3-0), who will host Kane on Friday.

Despite 113 passing yards by Bova, the Gators fall to 2-1 and
travel to Brockway on Friday.

“They (Falcons) hit a couple of long passes and those were the
difference in the game,” Bodamer said.