PORT ALLEGANY — If there was any doubt that Kane might not be as good as last year, the Wolves answered that Friday night with a 70-0 shellacking of the Port Allegany Gators in the season-opener for both teams.
Kane scored four first quarter touchdowns and three in the second quarter to open a 49-0 halftime lead.
The Wolves were led by junior Erik DeLong with four rushing touchdowns of 4 yards, 5 yards, 19 yards and 39 yards for 158 total yards. Austin Labesky added two more rushing TD’s of 19 and 18 yards. Freshman quarterback Jake Alcorn added two more rushing scores of 72 yards and 43 yards in the second half enroute to 128 yards on the night.
Kane started the game with Frank Truden’s 53-yard kickoff return to the Gator 29 three plays later DeLong hit paydirt on a four yard run. Kicker Joe Johnson split the uprights for a 7-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game.
Port Allegany answered with a Trey Stiles kick return to the Wolves 11. Senior quarterback Daniel Jordan called his number for five yards to the Wolves 10. Jordan drew the Wolves offside with a hard count to the Kane 6 yard line before the Wolves defense stuffed Jordan for a loss and turned the ball over on downs.
“Credit our defense they didn’t panic and held them,” said Kane head coach Todd Silfies.
Kane used 11 plays to move 90 yards with Delong scoring his second TD on a four-yard plunge to up the score to 14-0
After a Gators’ four and out, senior Frank Truden broke loose on a 65-yard run before DeLong scored to make the score 20-0. Johnson again split the uprights for a 21-0 lead with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.
Kane intercepted a Jordan ariel at the Gator 21 with just 53 ticks on the clock. Four plays later DeLong scored again with Johnson adding another extra point with three seconds left in the first quarter.
JT Stewart picked off Jordan to give the Wolves the ball at the Gator 46. Four plays later DeLong scored from 19 yards out with Johnson tacking on the extra point to make the score to 34-0 with 10:12 left in the half.
Port Allegany started at its own 23 picking up a first first down at the 34. Stiles added 13 yards before the drive stalled at the Gator 43.
Four plays later the Wolves scored with a 65-yard bomb to Truden from Williams and the rout was on putting the score at 42-0.
Kane added another score before the half ended with Johnson staying perfect on extra points to make it a 49-0 margin.
The future looks bright for Kane’s freshman quarterback who gave the Wolves’ fans a glimpse of what is to come by scoring two touchdowns with his strong second-half runs as Kane finished the night with 70 points.
“Erik DeLong has been waiting for this and he showed just what he can do,” said Silfies. “Our line did a great job tonight.
“We played sloppy at first but settled down quite well. Credit the kids for working hard in the off season … we had a great team effort tonight.
“Credit Port they didn’t quit,” Silfies pointed out.
Gators’ head coach Justin Bienkowski was pleased that his team gave it their all.
“We played all 28 kids tonight and we did some things that we can build on,” he explained. “They never gave up. Trey Stiles had a great game and Daniel Jordan is really a sophomore because he was injured last season so he did a good job.
“We will get back to practice and build on the positive” Bienkowski added.
Both teams return to action next Friday, with Kane at Otto-Eldred while Port Allegany travels to Ridgway.
