When the Port Allegany players take the field on Thursday in the PIAA Class 1A state championship game against Bishop Guilfoyle, they will have more than just a little bit of support behind them.
Student and community busses will make the trip to Mechanicsburg to cheer on the Gators, but it doesn’t stop there, not by a long shot, as the surrounding communities are showing their love for a team that has already made history but is looking to complete that final step.
“Unfathomable, mind-boggling and insanely appreciative,” was how Port Allegany head coach Justin Bienkowski described it. “They have been phenomenal. The parade we had coming in last week was insane. Otto-Eldred, Smethport, Austin, and I don’t want to forget anybody, they’ve been great as well, from wearing orange and black for school on Thursday to show their support…it’s just insane. The support has been phenomenal. It’s truly been a historic run, and we have one more to take care of.”
For Bienkowski, it’s a full-circle moment.
He was an assistant coach under Mike Bodamer when the Gators made their first state semifinal appearance in 2012, and the head coach for their run to the semis in 2022. Those two teams came up just short of a trip to the state finals, but this one was able to break through with a convincing 46-8 win over Fort Cherry last week.
“I don’t even say it as coach speak, but it’s literally how we’ve approached it, week to week the entire way,” he said. “Who’s up next, let’s prepare and let’s go out and try and win a game. The town has been great, the ambiance with the snow, it just has a great feel and vibe. We’re grateful to still be practicing.”
On the 2012 team, Bienkowski credits Bodamer with allowing himself, along with the other assistant coaches, including Jason Luther and Nate Zitnik, to be themselves and coach. It’s a lesson he’s taken to heart, and he is the first to credit his coaching staff, including but not limited to defensive coordinator Chad Saltsman, offensive coordinator Seth Lowrey, Kyle Bachman and others for the critical role they have played in the team’s success.
It’s a staff that also includes Brandon Raymo, Cliff Fillhart, Chad Alexis, Rickie Bova, Alan Lovell and Charlie Buchanan.
“I learned very quickly from Mike Bodamer the importance of how you keep a team together and deal with the ebbs and flows and letting your coaches coach,” Bienkowsk said. “Jason, Nate, myself, we were allowed to coach. Now I do the same thing. He (Bodamer) is the reason why we’ve had the success that we’ve had, why the program has grown the way it has, right down to how we run our practices. That’s all Mike.”
Bienkowski jokes that he’s been “dumb enough to hang around,” and during that time, he has seen the growth in the program that he alluded to.
In 2012, he and his wife, Ashley, had a young daughter, just over a year old.
“I was just a young guy then,” he said. “Now I have three daughters.”
As a family, the Bienkowski’s have shared in the joy (and sometimes the hard times) that football can bring.
As for the Gator teams themselves, he says each has been unique in its own way, but they all share common core values.
“They’ve all been similar in that we came together as a unit to do something special.”
And for this particular group of Gators, the road ends here, with a chance to do something that know District 9 team has ever done before (Central Clarion is also in the 2A state championship game on Friday at 1 p.m.).
“Thursday will be exactly four months since we officially started,” Bienkowski said. “We’ve spent ⅓ of the year with each other and hopefully we can put that icing on top.”
