Gateway holds off Plum’s big rally

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 23, 2022 | 10:45 PM

Gateway appeared to have a comfortable halftime lead Friday in a Big East Conference clash with Plum at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium.

But the Mustangs didn’t flinch when facing the 21-point deficit at the break.

Plum rallied throughout the second half, recovering a pair of squib kickoffs, blocking a field goal and forcing a turnover on downs and two punts.

But Gateway’s lead at the break held up, albeit by the slimmest of margins, in a 28-26 final.

“We said all the things we wanted at halftime,” Gateway coach Don Holl said. “We wanted to win the second half, finish drives, add to the lead, keep them off the board and be sound in special teams. But we weren’t any of those things, and it is a direct reflection on the head coach. I have to do a better job of figuring out how to reach our kids and make sure they understand situational football, and to just play better.”

Plum, which had jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a touchdown run by Eryck Moore to cap the first drive of the game, fell behind 28-7 at the half on touchdown passes from Gateway quarterback Brad Birch to Anez Jordan (45 yards), Dallas Harper (75 yards) and Leonard Sherrod (65 yards) and a Jordan halfback pass to Harper (52 yards).

A Moore 8-yard run with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the third quarter and a 30-yard screen-pass touchdown from Sean Franzi to Moore with 1 second on the third-quarter clock brought Plum to within one score at 28-20.

The Mustangs then took the ball at their own 25 with seven minutes left after a Gators punt and drove down to the Gateway 7.

A Moore run to the 1 set up Nick Odom’s short plunge across the goal line with 2:11 on the clock.

A failed extra point on Plum’s first score of the half forced the Mustangs to go for two to try and tie the score.

But Franzi’s conversion pass was intercepted by Harper to keep the Gators in the lead.

Plum had one last chance with 59 seconds left after another Gateway punt. But Harper came up big again and intercepted a Franzi pass across the middle to seal the victory for the Gators.

“In the first half, we gave them three pretty easy touchdowns on blown coverages,” Plum coach Matt Morgan said. “We have to get better at that and get the kids to execute the game plan a little better in that area. I went in at halftime and I asked the kids what kind of team they wanted to be for the rest of the year, one that is remember for quitting or one that is going to fight its tail off to the very last whistle. They chose the second one, which is great to see. They gave everything they had in that second half. We just fell a little short.”

With the win, the Gators, who dropped to No. 5 in this week’s Trib Class 5A rankings after last week’s loss to Franklin Regional, improved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference. They play at Hempfield on Friday.

Plum fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big East. The Mustangs, who defeated Norwin to open conference play last week, host rival Franklin Regional on Friday.

Harper’s big plays on defense were complemented by an offensive performance which saw him finish with four catches for 169 yards.

“Dallas had a helluva night,” Holl said. “He was big for us on offense, and he was there when we needed him the most for two of the biggest plays of the night.”

Birch finished the game 12 of 16 for 250 yards, the three touchdowns and one interception. Jaquon Reynolds tallied 64 yards on 20 carries for the Gators.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Holl said. “We thought we turned the corner with some good practices this week. But we’re not there yet. If we’re going to put Gateway on our chest and run out there on Friday nights, then we need to be better than we were tonight. And it starts with me.”

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, Plum