Gateway caps conference play with win over Latrobe

By: Michael Love
Sunday, October 26, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Gateway was the only football team in the Big East Conference to complete its conference schedule before last Friday’s games, which wrapped up the regular season.

The Gators, at 3-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play, hoped to take care of business Friday against Class 6A Hempfield while also watching the final set of conference games play out to determine whether they would clinch third place in the conference behind Woodland Hills and Penn-Trafford.

The games between Kiski Area (3-2) and Woodland Hills (5-0) and also Armstrong (2-3) and Franklin Regional (0-5) went a long way in determining whether Gateway would get the automatic bid or be relegated to hoping for a wild card.

The Gators’ matchup with the Spartans and the conference finales were played and concluded past the deadline for this week’s edition. The WPIAL released the playoff brackets for all six classifications Saturday afternoon.

Gateway was able to stay in playoff position with a close and competitive win over Latrobe in its final Big East game Oct. 17.

The Gators knew what it was like to play down to the wire against the Wildcats.

Just last year, Latrobe scored a 28-27 victory at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium that contributed to keeping the Gators from entering the WPIAL playoffs. Relegated to hoping for a wild card, Gateway saw the WPIAL football committee select teams from another conferences to fill out the 12-team Class 5A field.

This time around, it was Gateway which would make the plays down the stretch to get the crucial late-season road victory.

Sophomore defensive back Nazir Diggs came through in the clutch with a key pass breakup as Latrobe attempted to move down the field for a game-tying field goal or game-winning touchdown in the final minute.

While the win kept Gateway in the hunt for a playoff spot, the loss was damaging for Latrobe which fell to 1-4 in the conference standings and was eliminated from postseason contention.

Gateway’s win over Latrobe snapped a three-game losing streak in Big East play. The Gators missed opportunities in losses to Penn-Trafford (33-23) and Woodland Hills (42-28) and suffered heartbreak in Week 5 as Armstrong rallied in the fourth quarter for a 29-28 victory.

The Gators jumped out to a 14-0 lead over the Wildcats in the first quarter as freshman Mayson Mitchell threw touchdown passes of 11 and 78 yards to junior wideout Jayden Stammer.

With the ball again and the hopes of extending the lead, disaster struck the Gateway offense on the final play of the first quarter as Latrobe’s Danny Noonan intercepted Mitchell and took it back 40 yards for the Wildcats touchdown.

But Gateway added a pair of second-quarter scores — a 3-yard run by junior tailback Julian Dancear and a 6-yard connection from Mitchell to senior wideout Tyree Gowder — and led 27-14 at the break.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Then the Gators had to hold off a Latrobe rally in the fourth.

A safety and a touchdown return of the Gateway free kick plus the two-point conversion with five minutes left brought the Wildcats to within three. Latrobe got the ball back, but the Gators’ defense stood tall to finish out the win.

Gateway collected 338 yards of total offense with 261 coming from the arm of Mitchell, who completed 21 of 29 passes and tossed the three touchdowns with the one interception.

Dancear finished with seven catches for 69 yards, and Stammer, with his two TD receptions, finished with four grabs for 110 yards.

Gowder caught three of Mitchell’s passes for 41 yards.

Dancear also fronted the Gateway run game with 48 yards on 14 carries.

The Gators overcame a pair of fumbles and seven penalties for 70 yards.

In six full games and parts of two others after the loss of sophomore Elvis Koutsakis because of injury, Mitchell has completed 132 of 211 passes for 1,655 yards and 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions.

Five of the nine picks came in the loss to Woodland Hills.

He threw for season highs in yardage (317) and touchdowns (4) in the Week 4 victory over Franklin Regional.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway