PORT ALLEGANY – His players made the short walk from the dusty practice field back to the school, most of them side-by-side, all of them sporting some version of the Port Allegany black and orange.
They didn’t resemble a team that had won just two games in the last two seasons.
A year ago, Pat Warnick inherited a group coming off one of the most trying years in program history – the Gators went 0-9, lost by an average of nearly 40 points per game and struggled to come up with enough healthy bodies to field a team.
In Year 1, the message was simple: There’s nowhere to go but up. Port A made strides in 2017, going 2-7 with wins over Sheffield (20-7) and Cameron County (27-26, OT).
In Year 2, they expect more.
“We’re trying to bring Port Allegany football back,” Warnick said. “We’re trying to break back into that win column.”
A year into his tenure – a year removed from the gloom that hung over a program that just five years earlier had won back-to-back Allegheny Mountain League titles – Warnick believes the Gators are in a much better state in 2018.
He can sense the difference – in attitude, approach, everything.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said, “so are the other coaches. We pushed the guys conditioning-wise and none of them complained. They’re all pulling together as a team. That’s what I was looking for last year, but we didn’t quite have it.
“Their confidence level is up higher. It’s a more upbeat tempo this year than we had last year.”
And that isn’t merely the result of a culture change, Warnick noted. The Gators are also in a better situation from a personnel standpoint.
Yes, Port Allegany lost arguably its top two players in 5-foot-4, tough-as-nails running back Trey Stiles, who made the Big 30 team and provided most of the offense last year, and lineman Jake Kallenborn. Those are undoubtedly two big holes to fill.
Warnick, though, returns 11 players that started at least one game, however, and 17 total letterwinners. Among those are junior running back Josh Rees, who missed all but the final two games of last season with a broken leg, senior athlete Jared Mahon, who started at quarterback, and juniors Devon Smoker and Eli Petruzzi, who saw significant time in the backfield.
In addition, “we had some kids that came out this year that we wish we would have had last year,” Warnick said. “We have 32 total players (up from 27 in 2017). I think these guys are going to make a big difference, adding them to the fit of the mold here.”
Plus, Port will welcome back coach Justin Bienkowski, who served as the Gators’ head man from 2014-16 and was an assistant during their last golden age from 2010-12. With Bienkowski handling the offense, Warnick said he’ll be able to put more focus into his stronger suit: the defense.
As a result, the Gators are much further along now than when Warnick took over.
“They know what to expect,” Warnick said. “This year, it’s about everybody coming together, guys willing to step up and be playmakers on both sides of the ball. We’re seeing that in practice.
“We’re seeing kids that last year we never would have guessed they’d be where they’re at this year. That’s got us coaches pumped about it.”
While their offensive philosophy will remain the same, the look in 2018 will be slightly different.
This year, the Gators will switch from a modified Wing T (out of the pistol) to a more traditional Wing T. Along with that, they’ll move Mahon to wide receiver with another of their best athletes, Trey Ayers, taking over as the primary quarterback.
To Warnick, the move better suits both players’ abilities, and both were on board with the change.
Nearly two weeks into practice, Warnick has been pleased with the Gators’ ability to adjust.
“As far as linemen go, they seem to be picking up and adapting better this year,” he said. Josh (Rees) is looking good in practice, along with Devon Smoker.
“D.J. Michelitsch worked hard all summer lifting weights as our center. He’s come leaps and bounds from last year. We’re pumped the kids are starting to form together as a team.”
Of his new quarterback, who still might occasionally swap with Mahon depending on the situation, Warnick added: “He’s worked hard all summer trying to fit that mold at quarterback. He’s stepped up, he was willing to learn, he seems to be doing well in practice.”
Like the rest of the former AML North schools, Port is “thrilled” to be in a revamped District 9 League, which allows it to avoid the mostly bigger schools to the south.
“I think the kids picked up on that,” Warnick said. “I think it may have some doing about their (positive) attitude in practice and what not …
And while a more reasonable schedule will help, the Gators know they still have a long way to go.
Warnick’s team was beaten handily in its seven losses last year. It was no match for fellow North schools Otto-Eldred, Coudersport and Smethport.
What are fair expectations for this fall?
“I don’t want to put a hex on us,” said Warnick, the chief of police in Smethport. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that when we play teams, they’re going to know they’re playing a team. It’s not going to be a pushover.
“From what we’re seeing from the kids through the first week, it’s a complete turnaround from last year, and with the players we picked up, we feel we can be a pretty competitive team.”
Aside from Bienkowski, Warnick will be assisted by Brian Neal, Chad Saltsman, Cliff Filhart and Ricky Bova.
THE RETURNING starters:
Issac Smoker, senior, 5-10, 170, wide receiver/linebacker
Jared Mahon, senior, 5-10, wide receiver/defensive back
D.J. Michelitsch, junior, 6-0, 260, center/defensive tackle
Josh Rees, junior, 5-8, 180, running back/linebacker
Devon Smoker, junior, 5-7, 155, running back/defensive end
Hunter Kisko, junior, 6-0, 185, line both ways
Eli Petruzzi, junior, 5-5, 140, running back/defensive back
Dalton Distrola, sophomore, 6-0, 180, offensive line/defensive end
Issak Baumgarner, sophomore, 5-9, 160, guard/linebacker
Justin Young, sophomore, 6-2, 190, offensive line/defensive end
Derek Kallenborn, sophomore, 5-11, 180, line both ways
ALSO LETTERING were:
Noah Pearson, junior, 5-4, 225, line both ways
Branden Tinder, junior, 6-0, 235, line both ways
Izak Bidwell, junior, 5-2, 115, defensive back
Hunter Whitney, sophomore, 5-11, 155, offensive line/defensive end
Trey Ayers, sophomore, 5-5, 140, quarterback/defensive back
Ethan Debockler, sophomore, 5-8, 155, offensive line/linebacker
THE PLAYERS, by position:
Offense
Quarterbacks: Ayers, Mahon, Seth Bowers (jr., 5-7, 150)
Running Backs: Rees, D. Smoker, Petruzzi, Debockler, Collin Smith (sr., 5-10, 170)
Ends/Receivers: Mahon, I. Smoker, Young, Dominic Guerrero (so., 5-11, 160), Montgomery Tanner (jr., 5-10, 145)
Guards/Tackles: Distrola, Pearson, Baumgarner, Kallenborn, Kisko, Wayne Shelley (sr., 5-9, 170)
Centers: Michelitsch, Kallenborn
Defense
Ends: Young, Guerrero, Whitney, Smoker, Distrola
Guards/Tackles: Michelitsch, Distrola, Kisko, Pearson, Tinder, Kallenborn, Shelley
Linebackers: D. Smoker, Rees, Baumgarner, Debockler, I. Smoker, Smith, Shelley, Isaiah Debockler (fr., 5-9, 130)
Defensive Backs: Petruzzi, Mahon, Tanner, Ayers, Guerrero
THE SCHEDULE:
August
24 – at Otto-Eldred, 7 p.m.
31 – Keystone, 7 p.m.
September
7 – at Smethport, 7 p.m.
14 – at Elk County Catholic, 7 p.m.
21 – Coudersport, 7 p.m.
28 – at Union/A-C Valley, 7 p.m.
October
5 – Sheffield, 7 p.m.
12 – at Clarion-Limestone, 7 p.m.
19 – Cameron County, 7 p.m.
NEXT: Ridgway
