Gateway football makes short work of Plum on road

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 22, 2023 | 10:37 PM

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The Gateway football team is hitting its stride at the right time.

The Gators improved to 2-0 in the Big East Conference on Friday at Plum after their three nonconference setbacks to start the season.

Brad Birch threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns, Jaquon Reynolds added three short TD runs and Steve Jenkins and Kenny Lewis each surpassed 100 yards receiving as Gateway raced past the Mustangs, 49-14, at Mustangs Stadium.

“We had that nice, natural break from the first couple of games to now getting into the conference,” Gateway coach Don Holl said.

“At the end of the day, if you win your conference, you’re in the playoffs. Not that we wanted to lose any of those early games, and credit to the teams (Mt. Lebanon, Woodland Hills, North Hills) that beat us, but we felt that we could play better with the guys we had out there and the guys we had coming back. There’s still a long way to go, but I like the trajectory.”

Gateway led 28-7 at the break and added a pair of scores in the second half to put the mercy rule running clock into affect.

Reynolds scored both as he capped a nine-play Gators drive to open the third quarter with a 2-yard run at the 7-minutes, 58-second mark.

He then found the end zone on a 1-yard plunge with 8:53 left in the fourth.

Reynolds complemented the passing game — which totaled 400 yards — with 76 yards on 16 carries.

From there, reserves for both teams got a chance to show what they could do. TJ Futules scored on a 37-yard run for Plum, and Gateway’s Terrance Cole darted 67 yards for a TD to cap the scoring.

Plum, which has lost three straight overall after a 2-0 start and is 0-2 in conference play, will look to get back on track next Friday against Franklin Regional.

“It was big plays,” Mustangs coach Matt Morgan said. “I think our guys played hard for the most part. We coached them hard. We just have to get better at defending those plays. Guys were in position, but there were a couple of times where they went up and took the ball away from us.

“I think a lot of it is us where we have to get ourselves right. I don’t care who we play. If we’re not getting ourselves right, we’re not going to be competitive. We know we can do it. We just have to believe in ourselves and trust each other.”

Gateway drove into Plum territory on its first two possessions. But it came up empty both times, turning the ball over at the Mustangs’ 15 and 26.

The Gators offense, however, converted on its next four possessions.

Gateway got on the board with 2:16 left in the first quarter as Jenkins got a chance to pass the football, and he found an open Lewis for a 42-yard touchdown. Blake Marsh booted the first of his four first-half extra points to put Gateway up 7-0.

The Gators then took advantage of a Jenkins interception of Plum’s Sean Franzi in the end zone and quickly moved down the field. Reynolds ran the final 3 yards for the score.

Birch, who returned last week against Franklin Regional after missing two games because of injury, completed a 42-yard pass to Lewis at the 6:10 mark of the second for a 21-0 advantage.

On the next drive, Birch completed a short pass to Derek Selby in the left flat, and Selby took it 65 yards for a fourth first-half score.

With that TD, Birch set the Gateway record for career touchdown passes. He completed 17 of his 23 pass attempts against the Mustangs.

“Brad is just playing with a lot of confidence right now where he can throw the ball and know his receivers will make plays,” Holl said. “We’re excited that he’s doing all the things he’s doing.”

Plum moved the ball inside the Gators’ 10 on its fourth possession, but the Franzi interception snuffed out the Mustangs’ attempt at points.

They punted on five other first-half drives before getting on the board with 10 seconds left until the break. Darian Nelson took a direct snap and got into the end zone from 5 yards. The drive from the Gateway 27 was set up by a 63-yard Nelson kickoff return.

Jenkins finished with five catches for 141 yards, Lewis had eight for 136 yards and Selby finished with four for 91.

Nick Odom fronted the Plum offense. He was a workhorse with 27 carries for 133 yards.

Gateway will try to make it 3-0 in the conference next Friday against Hempfield.

“We felt like we were going to score some points tonight if we executed,” Holl said. “We looked to finish drives with touchdowns early, but credit to Plum. They made some stops. Obviously, we got more opportunities because our defense played really well, and we took advantage of those.”

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