PORT ALLEGANY — Every sports program experiences its share of peaks and valleys. Sustained success — or lack thereof — is a rarity, a product of graduation, coaching changes, and general shifts in power.
Port Allegany won back-to-back D-9 football titles in 2011 and 2012, and were champions of the AML North as recently as 2015.
After last year, though, it seems like a long time ago.
The Gators suffered through one of the toughest seasons in program history in 2016, failing to win a single game en route to an 0-9 record. What’s worse, many of those games were not particularly close.
Enter new coach Pat Warnick. As a graduate of Port Allegany and someone who has coached at nearly every level of youth football in some capacity, Warnick knows how much pride fans of Port Allegany have in their football team and how disappointing last season was for them.
“I know, and the kids know, that we have nowhere to go but up from last year,” he said. “They all have a good attitude about it.”
Warnick is looking to bring the kind of no-nonsense mentality to his football team that’s required of his day job: Police chief of Smethport.
“I catch a lot of flak from some of the guys,” Warnick joked about working in the town of one of the Gators’ rivals.
To get back to where Port Allegany used to be, Warnick knows that he’ll need to shake things up a bit.
“It was a complicated offense they ran back then,” he said of the district title-winning teams of the past. “The players they had made it a great offense. We switched it up this year.”
That switch involves the implementation of the wing-T offense, a run-heavy attack that Warnick himself participated in during his days on the gridiron. The decision to switch to this new scheme was made to both fit the style of the players on the roster as well as the desire to keep things simple.
“In reality I think it’s going to be less stressful for the players,” he said. “They’ll be able to focus more on the game itself without having to worry about, ‘Jeez, where do I need to go?’ It’s simplified.”
Senior tailback Treyton Stiles figures to be the focal point of the attack. The 5-foot-4, 130-pound Stiles is coming off a 500-yard rushing season that included five touchdowns. He will be complemented in the backfield by fellow senior Wyatt Dean and sophomore Devon Smoker.
Warnick will be looking to junior Jared Mahon to run things under center. A converted wideout, Warnick believes Mahon is up to the challenge of taking hold of the reigns on offense.
“He’s a player,” Warnick said of Mahon. “He’s a good athlete. I think he’s fitting the mold pretty well. I asked him to step in at quarterback from slot receiver last year.
“Moving to the wing-T, we’re not really going to be a passing team, but we’re going to try to have a balanced offense.”
The Gators return a lot of experience along the offensive line, including returning starters Jake Kallenborn, Tyler Bliss, and Wayne Shelly. Issac Smoker, Hunter Kisko, D.J. Michelitsch, and Noah Pearson also earned varsity letters last season.
On defense, Port Allegany should have some good depth at linebacker featuring the likes of Kallenborn, Bliss, Dean, and Shelly.
With the roster numbers under 30, Warnick will be looking to his upperclassmen to provide critical leadership.
“If we get the seniors to believe in us and the underclassmen to believe in the seniors, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with and the teams we play will know we come to play football,” Warnick said.
Those players who still remember the struggle of suffering through a winless season are motivated to get the Port Allegany program back to where it was not too long ago.
“We’ve talked about what my expectations are,” Warnick said. “Win or lose, we want other teams to know that they played a good ballclub.
“I think we’re on track to getting back to being a powerhouse football team which is what Port Allegany has been known for in the past.”
RETURNING STARTERS:
Jake Kallenborn, senior, 6-0, 160, offensive guard/linebacker
Treyton Stiles, senior, 5-4, 130, running back/defensive back
Tyler Bliss, senior, 6-0, 195, offensive guard/linebacker
Wyatt Dean, senior, 6-1, 170, wide receiver/wingback/linebacker
Wayne Shelly, junior, 5-8, 150, offensive guard/linebacker
Josh Rees, sophomore, 5-8, 150, running back/linebacker/defensive back
ALSO LETTERING:
Jared Mahon, junior, 5-11, 160, quarterback/defensive back
Issac Smoker, junior, 5-9, 150, offensive line/linebacker
Hunter Kisko, sophomore, 5-11, 180, offensive tackle/defensive tackle
D.J. Michelitsch, sophomore, 5-11, 251, center/defensive tackle
Noah Pearson, sophomore, 5-5, 200, offensive line/defensive line
THE PLAYERS, by position:
Offense
Quarterbacks: Mahon, Trey Ayers (freshman, 5-4, 125), Stiles
Running backs: Dean, Stiles, Devon Smoker (sophomore, 5-9, 140), Rees, Eli Petruzzi (freshman, 5-3, 144)
Ends: Justin Young (freshman, 6-0, 165), Dean, Dalton Distrola (freshman, 6-1, 180)
Guards/Tackles: Kallenborn, Bliss, Isaak Baumgarner (freshman, 5-7, 138), Kisko, Distrola, Pearson, Shelly, Derrick Kallenborn (freshman, 5-10, 145)
Centers: Michelitsch, Brock Veilleux (senior, 5-10, 255)
Defense
Ends: J. Kallenborn, Distrola, Young
Guards/Tackles: Michelitsch, Veilleux, Branden Tinder (sophomore, 5-11, 223), Pearson, Kisko, D. Kallenborn
Linebackers: Dean, Bliss, Shelly, I. Smoker
Defensive backs: Stiles, Mahon, I. Smoker, Ayers, Petruzzi
Kickers/Punters: Bryce Baker (senior, 5-10, 140)
THE SCHEDULE:
August
25 – Kane 56, Port Allegany 6
September
1 – RIDGWAY, 7 p.m.
8 – at Brockway, 7:30 p.m.
15 – CURWENSVILLE, 7 p.m.
22 – OTTO-ELDRED, 7 p.m.
29 – at Smethport, 7 p.m.
October
6 – SHEFFIELD, 7 p.m.
13 – CAMERON COUNTY, 7 p.m.
20 – at Coudersport, 7 p.m.
