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Gateway's offensive success this season had been all about big plays and quick strikes. Heck, this was a team that scored seven touchdowns on only seven plays a week ago.
But as the leaves fell from the trees on the hillside of Weigle-Schaeffer Stadium last night, Gateway turned over a new leaf.
The Gators switched personalities offensively, playing push and shove instead of flash and dash. Gateway bulled its way to an impressive 35-14 victory against host McKeesport in a Foothills Conference battle of WPIAL Class AAAA heavyweights.
In addition to its strong offense showing, Gateway got a splendid defensive performance against a team that led Class AAAA in scoring. The victory gives Gateway, the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked Class AAAA team, a perfect regular season for the second year in a row. Gateway finished 9-0 overall and unbeaten in conference play for the third consecutive year.
No. 2-ranked McKeesport (7-2) had its seven-game winning streak snapped, but the Tigers still finished as the second-place team in the Foothills.
Gateway likely will get the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL playoffs that begin Friday.
"I don't know if we proved anything tonight, but we showed we're capable of scoring however is necessary," said Gateway coach Terry Smith.
Gateway had scoring drives of 93 yards in 18 plays, 80 yards in 9 plays and 66 yards in 8 plays. Meet the patient Gators.
PG PDFs"We're a quick-strike offense. I want to score now," Smith said. "But if you take away some things, well be patient, too."
Gateway's offense had 26 first downs to McKeesport's eight, and Gateway also had 230 yards rushing. Orne Bey rushed for 108 yards on 23 carries and Brendon Felder for 97 on 14.
Gateway quarterback Rob Kalkstein did a nice job of hitting short passes and not forcing throws. A four-year starter, Kalkstein completed 16 of 26 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown.
"We didn't take a lot of shots downfield because they put a lot of guys deep," Kalkstein said. "But we felt like we could move the ball on them."
Kalkstein's effort moved him into fifth place on the WPIAL's all-time passing yardage list with 5,800. In the past three weeks, he has passed by some pretty big-name quarterbacks of yesteryear on the list, including West Allegheny's Tyler Palko, Penn Hills' Anthony Morelli, Seton-LaSalle's Bill Stull and North Hills' Eric Kasperowicz.
"He made a lot of checks at the line, too," Smith said. "He's a do-all, everything player. I call him the franchise because as he goes, we go."
McKeesport's offense couldn't go anywhere most of the night. The Tigers' vaunted flexbone offense was ground to a halt by Gateway's defensive front. McKeesport had only 85 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Darien Robinson, who came in with 1,214 yards rushing and a 12.5 yards-per-carry average, managed only 64 yards on 16 attempts. Quarterback Ty-Meer Brown had only 7 yards on five attempts.
McKeesport had to throw more than it liked and Brown completed 6 of 9 for 87 yards.
"We have two horses in the middle of our defense in Mitch Devall and Tyler Coles," Smith said. "They don't get a lot of credit but those two guys were the MVPs of our defense."
The score was tied, 7-7, after the first quarter. Midway through the second quarter is when Gateway seemingly buckled the chin straps and flexed its muscles. The Gators drove 93 yards in 18 plays and Kalkstein capped the march with a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown on fourth down. The score came with 15.5 seconds left in the half.
Earlier in the drive, Gateway converted on fourth-and-one from its own 29.
"I wasn't surprised we went for it," Kalkstein said. "We have a lot of confidence in our offensive line. ... That drive was a big momentum-builder."
On Gateway's second possession of the second half, Bey had an 80-yard touchdown run called back by a holding penalty. No problem. McKeesport drove 80 yards in nine plays for a score, with Felder scoring the touchdown on a 10-yard run with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
Kalkstein scored on a 12-yard sneak with 9:12 left in the game. McKeesport fumbled the ball away on the ensuing kickoff and Gateway scored on the first play when Kalkstein hit Felder on a 35-yard touchdown pass with 9:02 left in the game.
"Gateway knew what they had and they used it," said McKeesport defensive lineman Carlows Brown. "We couldn't tackle them. They're such a good team and have so many good athletes. For some reason, it was like we folded."
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