Tough finish to regular season keeps Gateway out of WPIAL playoffs

By: Michael Love
Sunday, November 3, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Woodland Hills, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford finished as the top three teams in the Class 5A Big East Conference, and they earned the three automatic bids from the conference to the WPIAL playoffs which began last Friday.

That left the three teams tied for fourth — Gateway, Kiski Area and Latrobe — to wait for the WPIAL playoff committee to determine who was worthy enough to receive one of the three wild-card bids to complete the 12-team field.

Those three teams ended up being Latrobe, and both Moon and South Fayette from the Allegheny 6 Conference.

Gateway, which finished 3-7 overall, was left out of the mix.

The Gators lost their final four games. Two of them, Woodland Hills and Latrobe, came down to the final minute and resulted in 28-27 setbacks.

Three of their four losses in conference play — they also fell by two points against Franklin Regional on Sept. 20 — came by a combined four points. Miscues on extra points in all three games helped contribute to what turned out to be razor-thin margins in those three games.

“First and foremost, we always talk from the standpoint of control what you can control,” Gateway coach Don Holl said.

“Without question, we had plenty of opportunities to control that situation. A win in any of those games or a win against Penn-Trafford (32-13 loss) would’ve no doubt put us in a better position. When you lose your final four games, including three in the conference, and finish 3-7, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect you’ve proven yourself to be a playoff team.”

At the same time, as part of all the playoff committee had to mull over in determining the wild cards, Holl touted his team’s nonconference schedule which included three Class 6A teams in State College, North Allegheny and Hempfield as well as a Class 5A crossover against a Plum team that was close to being in the wild-card conversation.

State College was 9-1 heading into postseason play, and North Allegheny, the defending WPIAL Class 6A champion and PIAA finalist, also was 9-1 and picked up the No. 2 seed in the Class 6A bracket.

“We’ve had the defending Class 6A champion on our schedule the last six years,” Holl said.

“We don’t shy away from great competition. Bottom line is that we want to play teams like that to test ourselves and help us get better.”

The WPIAL used a new method for choosing wild cards. Rather than rely on its traditional tiebreaking formulas of Gardner Points and margin-of-victory, the football committee was empowered to choose wild card teams outright.

Gateway, Holl said, would’ve found itself in a better position if Gardner Points would’ve come into play.

“There was an understanding, an acceptance, and a support of everyone who used subjectivity in choosing the wild cards,” he said.

Gateway finished its season scoring 24.1 points a game and giving up 29.4 a contest.

Holl said the defense was not its total self throughout as it was plagued by injuries, including that of Division I senior recruit Kenny Lewis who missed the entire season after suffering an injury in the scrimmage with Belle Vernon.

“I didn’t realize this until I went all the way back to the first snap against Belle Vernon when our first defense was out there to the last games against Latrobe and Hempfield just how many guys missed games,” Holl said.

“Seven starters at the beginning of the year weren’t playing at the end of the year due to injury. That happens. It’s football. You deal with it and go next man up, but it is asking a lot of guys who started as backups to be your core guys on defense. We’re not making excuses. The guys who are out there wearing ‘Gateway’ on their chests are our guys, and the expectations don’t change. But it was a lot to overcome, especially on defense.”

Freshman Elvis “Dino” Koutsakis and senior Sid Bryant competed for the starting quarterback job in the offseason.

Koutsakis won the job and went on to complete 146 of 225 passes for 1,889 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“Dino’s upside is huge. His work ethic is phenomenal, and his understanding of the game is advanced beyond his years,” Holl said. “We feel he has a super bright future.”

Koutsakis missed time because of injury, and Bryant came in and threw for 652 yards and seven scores.

Combining those numbers, Gateway quarterbacks threw for the second-most yardage in the WPIAL this season.

Junior wideout Shawn Moorfield led Class 5A in receptions with 53 for 717 yards and five touchdowns.

Senior running back Amari Gans, who took over in a featured backfield role this year, ran for 822 yards and 12 touchdowns on 156 attempts and added 44 catches for 439 yards and five scores.

Senior Dyson Harper and sophomore Kacy Carter also were among the receiving leaders with six and five touchdowns, respectively.

“At the end of the day, there were plenty of young players, whether they expected to be in there or not, who got a lot of good experience this season with a lot of snaps, and that can only be good moving forward,” Holl said.

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.

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