SMETHPORT, Pa. — It’s a problem Port Allegany has faced before.
For the third week in a row, a dynamic opposing quarterback was able to overwhelm the Gators en route to a win for his team. In Week 1, it was Coudersport’s Hayden Keck, while in Week 2, it was Otto-Eldred’s Cole Sebastian.
Friday night’s culprit was Smethport’s Noah Lent.
Lent ran wild for 188 yards and three scores on 18 rushes and added 125 yards and three more scores through the air as the Hubbers cruised by Port A, 49-6.
“First and foremost, props to Smethport. That’s a really good football team, and a well-coached football team,” Port A coach Justin Bienkowski said.
He added of Lent, “Last year we wanted to take (running back) Braedon (Johnson) away. This year we wanted to take Noah away, and we didn’t do that.”
That paid its dividends for Smethport (3-0), which outgained the Gators (0-3) in total yardage 433-105. Of the Hubs’ 433 yards, Lent was responsible for 313.
The quarterback threw all three of his passing touchdowns in the first half, connecting with Ryli Burritt twice for 30- and 65-yard scores. His other was a 14-yard strike to Brandon Higley.
On the ground, Lent struck from 47 and 62 yards out before halftime, and then added a nine-yard scamper late in the fourth quarter.
“He just continues to mature for us, and he’s making the plays when we need him to make those plays,” Smethport coach Adam Jack said. “And I thought the line did a good job up front when we needed to make a play and bust him loose. They make the blocks when they had to.”
Port Allegany, meanwhile, never managed to get its offense going. Quarterback Drew Evens was kept to a 6-for-18 night that included just 39 yards and an interception, while explosive receiver Trey Ayers was held to just two receptions for two yards. He had hauled in 13 receptions for 226 yards and a pair of scores entering the matchup.
In addition, Noah Archer, who had emerged as a playmaker for the Gators, was kept to no yards rushing on five carries and hauled in just one reception for five yards.
“Trey and Noah (Archer) both (stayed bottled up),” Bienkowski said. “We wanted to bunch the middle up and get some confusion and then squirt them to the edge. We read some wrong plays on the band, and they were just more physical than us.”
Jack credited his defensive back, Logan Christie, for keeping Ayers at bay.
“(Ayers is) definitely a threat, but we felt that Logan could run with him,” Jack said. “So that was our game plan was just the matchup. It was a matchup that we liked.”
The 105 yards Port managed was by far a season low. Previously, the Gators had put up 258 yards against Coudersport and 341 last week against Otto-Eldred.
“I’m real proud of our defense,” Jack said. “We’ve been playing lights out right from the get-go. Coach Berlin has those guys dialed in really well every single week, and we’re rallying to the ball, getting a good push up front and getting great play in the secondary.”
Port will face a short week this week, as the Gators travel to Elk County Catholic (1-2) Thursday night.
“I was proud of our effort,” Bienkowski said. “We just got beat by a better football team… We’ll take tonight because we have high character kids that are going to build and let us coach them, let us yell at them and love them, and let us be a football family. And we’ll get ready to go to Elk Catholic on a short week.”
The Hubs host Cameron County, whose game with O-E was postponed, on Friday and then head to Coudersport on Oct. 16 for what’s shaping up to be a battle for the IU9 Small School Division’s top spot.