Gateway football team looks to overcome early adversity

By: Michael Love
Sunday, September 15, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

The Gateway football team was able to weather adversity over the first two weeks of the season, from injuries to key players and facing two of the top Class 6A teams in the state.

But Gators coach Don Holl said strides were made through those first two weeks — losses to District 6 power State College and WPIAL mainstay North Allegheny — to where the Gators arrived and thrived in a 22-15 triumph at neighboring rival Plum in Week 2 on Sept 6.

Holl said the win over Plum was a big confidence builder for his players.

“We had to battle to beat Plum,” he said.

“(Plum coach) Matt (Morgan) is a good friend of mine. Plum played hard, and that is a pretty good program. To get a win like that on the road — we were a MASH unit with a number of guys out — that says a lot for the guys who continue to step up and who were in there to help win it. You love to see kids who persevere and overcome adversity and find a way. That is the character stuff we like to see.”

Gateway trailed 15-14 late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Sid Bryant found Amari Gans for a 14-yard touchdown.

Bryant’s two-point conversion pass helped seal the victory.

“There have been plenty of bright spots, at times,” Holl said.

“Sometimes you can compare it to how the weather might be, saying its partly cloudy or partly sunny or you could say ‘I didn’t like the whole movie, but I liked the ending.’ There have been good things we’ve seen. The kids have been playing hard right from the scrimmage and the first play of the State College game.”

Gateway was dealt a blow even before the first play from scrimmage in Week Zero.

Senior Kenny Lewis, a first-team conference all-star last year who led the Gators in receiving with 51 catches for 890 yards and 11 touchdowns, was lost for the season with an injury suffered in Gateway’s scrimmage against Belle Vernon.

Elvis Koutsakis, who won a quarterback competition in the summer and preseason to replace graduated three-year starter Brad Birch, is battling back from injury after starting both the games against State College and North Allegheny.

Two linemen who Holl anticipated would start Week Zero hadn’t seen the field through the Plum game.

“It’s football, so you are going to have injuries,” Holl said.

“But we’ve had an unusual spate of them. We lost arguably our best player for the year in Kenny. It’s kind of made it difficult to progress the way we thought we would progress. But on the good side, some guys have stepped up and have gotten some good experience and have gotten to see what it is like to play on Friday nights. A number of guys have gotten better because of their opportunities. In some ways, that can build depth for down the road.”

The injury to Koutsakis opened the door for Bryant to get his shot as a starter.

Bryant completed 15 of 21 passes for 256 yards against the Mustangs. He didn’t throw an interception.

He added a first-quarter scoring strike of 33 yards to Shawn Moorefield Jr. who caught seven passes for 179 yards.

“We know what we’re going to get from Sid,” Holl said.

“He’s a very football-smart guy. He’s really dependable. We’ve asked him to do different things on both sides of the ball. He’s a team guy. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and has done it well.

“There’s a lot of ways he could’ve handled not winning the job in the preseason at quarterback, but he handled it exactly the right way. He went and played outside linebacker and did a great job. Then he went right to work at quarterback when we needed him and has played well. He’s a selfless guy who will do whatever he can for his team.”

Gans produced another Gateway touchdown in the win over Plum with a 4-yard run midway through the second quarter.

Gateway (1-2) turned its attention this past week to a Kiski Area team that had lost two in a row after a season-opening win at Knoch. The Cavaliers fell to Norwin, 33-21, in Week 1, and 31-29 to Hempfield in Week 2.

Gateway returns home Friday to face a Franklin Regional team which started out 2-1 with wins over Plum and Hempfield before an uncharacteristic 45-7 loss to Upper St. Clair in Week 2.

“We knew it would be a deep conference with the mainstays like Penn-Trafford, Woodland Hills and Franklin Regional,” Holl said.

“Latrobe has one of their best teams in a long time. Then you have Kiski and Armstrong up from 4A who are well-coached and have some really talented athletes who want to help their teams get into the conference mix. Every week will be a dogfight. We want to go into every week equipped for a battle.”

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