Photo by Mandie Englert Warren Dawgs Blake Peterson, Noah Pape and Tanner Stuart combine for a tackle for a loss.

Strong defense carried both teams into the second half, but the Warren Hogs came out of top at the end of the day 8-0 over Port Allegany.

Both teams’ defense held strong in the first half with the score tied 0-0 after two quarters.

After going three and out on their first drive of the second half, the Hogs finally put together a scoring drive with their second series of the half when Ty Bryan connected with Wyatt Wilson on a 45-yard touchdown strike. The Hogs then went for two from the 10-yard line. Bryan picked up a bad snap and scrambled out of trouble on the right side eluding a couple of defenders before finding Wilson again in the back corner of the end zone to go up 8-0.

The teams moved the ball effectively throughout the game, stacking up yards, but were unable to score.

Bryan was efficient through the air putting up 142 yards passing. Wyatt Wilson had 85 yards receiving and Parker Kiser picked up the other 57 yards from Bryan. Thayne Gourley led the ground attack with 47 yards rushing and Kiser added another 12 yards on the ground.

Defense was the key to victory. Cooper Nobles and Drake Brown led the team in tackles with six apiece, including both having three tackles for a loss. Kiser added 5.5 tackles and a pass deflection. Weisinger had a great day on the outside adding five tackles. Jerett Lang, Gourley, Gavin Mealy, Conlin Phillips and Bennie Matson each added multiple tackles. Matson also recovered a fumble for the Hogs to get the only turnover of the game.

The Hogs play again Sunday on Wolverine Mountain against Coudersport at 1 p.m. The 3rd and 4th grade teams have their first game against each other prior to their travel debut the following week.

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The Warren Dawgs traveled to Smethport on Saturday afternoon to take on the back-to-back league champions.

It was a hard-fought defensive battle with Smethport winning on its last play over overtime 6-0.

Warren amassed 177 total rushing yards. Blake Peterson led the way with 57 yards rushing. Tanner Stuart, Colin Havers and Grant May also contributed.

Defensively, the Dawgs had 42 total tackles from 14 different players.

Stuart, Peterson and Havers were the top tacklers.

There was only one turnover the whole game. Grant May intercepted a pass for Warren.