Port Allegany Aims to Extend District 9 Football Dominance in 2025 Season

The Gators and Central Clarion each reached the PIAA finals last year.

Port Allegany reached the PIAA Class A final last season and the Gators hope for another chance to reach the state's biggest stage in 2025. / Paul Burdick

Justin Bienkowski insists that unless someone else asks him, the veteran Port Allegany football coach doesn’t talk about the result of the PIAA Class A championship game last season. The Gators, who won District 9 and turned heads with a 48-6 win in the state semifinals over Penn State recruit Matt Seig and Fort Cherry, lost 41-22 to Bishop Guilfoyle in their first appearance on the big stage.

District 9 football programs, which has never produced a state champion, has been clawing its way toward a breakthrough over the past few seasons. 

The 2024 season is arguably the high-water mark so far.

Central Clarion, which smashed its opponent South Park 55-0 in the semifinals, also reached the Class 2A final, falling to District 4 champion Troy, 25-24.

“It’s awesome to see District 9 compete,” Bienkowski said. “Everyone is better. With Clarion, Redbank Valley, and the other teams in the league, we aren’t playing 10 cake games to get ready for the playoffs.”

Six Classes Provide More Opportunities

The PIAA first started holding football championships in 1988 with four classifications. During the early years of the championships, District 9 had two teams reach the Clasa A finals. Keystone lost to Dunmore in 1989, while Smethport lost to Scotland in 1992.

Following Smethport’s loss, District 9 wouldn’t see another finalist until the PIAA expanded to six classes in 2016.

Redbank Valley reached the 2021 final before losing to Bishop Guilfoyle, 21-14. In the past four years, District 9 has had one representative in the state semifinals.

Bienkowski attributes the district's increased success on the state level to the consistency among the coaching staff.

“We’ve been together since before COVID, so we are connected at all levels,” Bienkowski said.

Gators Will Have Plenty of Bite

Port Allegany will have to replace a few missing pieces on the offensive line, who will both play in Division I programs this upcoming season. Juuso Young will play for Army’s football team, while Carson Neely will wrestle at Clarion.

“In our opinion, we lost two of the best small school linemen in the state,” Bienkowski said. “We were about 80 percent run last year.”

Port Allegany will return Aiden Bliss, a senior running back who piled up 3,430 rushing yards on 347 carries and scored 56 touchdowns. In the state championship game, Bliss carried the ball 47 times for 249 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Focus on The Future

Bienkowski loves football. He was an assistant coach for Pennsylvania during the Big 33 game, but preferred to keep the talk on the future.

Port Allegany will have any challenges ahead before any talk of another trip to Cumberland Valley High School for the PIAA championship game can start.

“I can count on one hand how many times I’ve talked about that game since we played in it,” Bienkowski said. “We can talk about that when we retire.”

--Josh Rizzo | rizzo42789@gmail.com | @J_oshrizzo