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Brad Birch perseveres in pressure-packed opener, lifting Gateway past Mt. Lebanon

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Saturday, August 27, 2022 | 12:32 AM

Fourth-and-20 is a pressure situation no quarterback wants, but Brad Birch knew where the ball needed to go.

The Gateway quarterback threw a high, arcing pass toward receiver Dallas Harper, who cut his route a little short, came down with the ball and scored on a 34-yard catch. That was the first of three TDs thrown by Birch, a high-profile junior who understands the pressures that comes with playing quarterback.

He persevered under pressure Friday night.

Birch passed for 276 yards, Harper caught two touchdowns, and Gateway’s defense stood strong in a 21-6 victory over defending state champion Mt. Lebanon in a Week Zero opener in Monroeville.

“It’s go time this year, for sure,” said Birch, who apologized for getting emotional.

This win won’t affect conference titles or playoff chances, but to him, it was important.

Birch completed 18 of 28 attempts with touchdown passes of 34 and 21 yards to Harper, who starred with eight catches and 127 yards. Birch’s third TD was a 37-yarder to Anez Jordan. He also threw an interception, took a few sacks and was off-line on some throws, mistakes he pointed out himself, saying he’s often his own critic.

“If people were watching, they could tell I messed up,” Birch said. “Those are going to be eliminated. This is only the first game, probably against one of the best teams we’ll play. So, it’s going to be a good season, for sure.”

He credited a recent pep talk with his 7-on-7 coach, the father of teammate Jaquon Reynolds, for putting him in the right state of mind.

“I haven’t been doing too well mentally,” he said, “but I feel good now.”

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback has Division I offers and won a WPIAL Class A title as a freshman at Jeannette before transferring to Gateway prior to last season. He led the WPIAL in passing yards a year ago, but now wants more.

“He puts some pressure a little bit on himself and maybe overthinks it a little bit,” Gateway coach Don Holl said. “At the end of the day, he’s really good. He’s just got to keep working and keep believing and keep learning everything he’s doing. He’s very talented and we love him.”

This was a matchup of teams with WPIAL title hopes.

Gateway (1-0) is the top team in Class 5A in TribLive HSSN rankings. Mt. Lebanon (0-1) is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion in 6A. The Blue Devils graduated a large part of the lineup that celebrated in Hershey, but showed Friday they’re still tough.

“Anytime you can get a win against a team that (Bob Palko) is coaching, you’ve got to feel good about yourself,” said Holl, who called Palko one of his best friends in coaching. “In Week Zero, you never know what you’re going to get.”

For Gateway, it was clear Harper is ready to be a star.

The Gators graduated their top two receivers, including Birch’s older brother Brett, but Harper and Jordan filled those roles Friday. Jordan had eight catches for 80 yards.

“This mission this year is to go all the way,” said Harper, who also had an interception on defense. “Win the WPIAL. Win the state. I think with this team, we can do that.”

Gateway rushed for only 36 yards on 23 carries, but the passing game gave the offense life.

The Gators led 7-0 on Harper’s 34-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. His 21-yarder in the third pushed the lead to 14-0. Harper had set up his second touchdown by intercepting a pass.

“Dallas is going to be an amazing player,” Birch said. “I knew our team was going to be better just because we had a lot of younger guys coming up. I’m very excited with how we did.”

Mt. Lebanon was held scoreless until Beckham Dee scored on a 3-yard run with about seven minutes left in the fourth. Dee’s touchdown capped a 13-play, 64-yard drive.

With the lead down to eight, Birch led Gateway on an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 37-yard pass to Jordan. The Gators led 21-6 with less than five minutes left.

“I thought our secondary played pretty good, but that kid is a pretty good player,” Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko said. “We just didn’t make the adjustments we needed to make.”

Palko knows well the spotlight star quarterbacks live in. His son, Tyler, starred for him at West Allegheny.

“It’s hard, I know,” Palko said. “I don’t know him, but I feel for him. That’s a tough position to be in because of the expectation levels that are put on him, but he’ll be fine.”

Mt. Lebanon used four different players behind center with multiple wildcat quarterbacks. The Blue Devils rushed for 104 yards on 37 attempts. Nate Sala led with 62 yards on 13 carries.

Michael Gevaudan and David Shields, the team’s traditional QBs, combined for 116 yards passing and one interception.

“We’re trying to find out what we do well,” Palko said. “We’re trying to find out what our personality is. You use a game like today to find out.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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