Last-minute FG puts Gators into first state final
ALTOONA, Pa. — Freshman kicker Jayson Jenkins had not attempted a field goal all season, but there he was standing at the Manheim Central 15, awaiting a snap that would either send Gateway to its first PIAA title game or leave the Gators to deal with overtime. He made no mistake. Jenkins drilled a 23yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining, and Gateway (14-1) thwarted a desperation hook-and-lateral play as time expired as the Gators pulled off a 31-28 victory against Manheim Central (13-1) at Mansion Park Stadium in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals.
“I said at the beginning of the year — and I don’t want to insult him in any way, especially after what he just did — but when we first saw he was going to be our guy, I said he looks like the kid who should be going out to pick up the tee, not kicking the ball off the tee,” Gateway coach Don Holl said. “But that was phenomenal.”
Jenkins finished what Brady Walker started. The senior quarterback had a sensational game as he completed 36 of 52 passes for 465 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score.
“It’s just the best feeling ever,” Walker said. “This [will be] Gateway’s first state championship [trip], and we’re just going to celebrate it and, on the field, we just had to put it all out.”
On his third touchdown pass, a 66-yard strike to Courtney Jackson, Walker broke Pine-Richland alumnus and current Pitt quarterback Ben DiNucci’s alltime WPIAL single-season yardage record. DiNucci finished his career with the Rams with 4,269, yards, but, after his performance against Manheim Central, Walker now is on top with 4,365.
They are the only two to eclipse 4,000 yards in a season, and Walker still has one more game remaining.
“It means a whole lot, and I just want to thank everyone that helped me get here, family, friends, players and it’s the best to be a great quarterback,” Walker said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the greatest in 5A, but it’s an honor to have people call me that.”
It didn’t hurt that he and Jackson made an explosive combination. The two hooked up for two 60plus yard touchdowns; the first a 61-yarder in the third quarter that tied the score, 21-21, the next on their next possession when they clicked for 66 and a 28-21 lead, the first time the Gators led in the game.
Jackson finished with 15 catches for 255 yards and all three receiving touchdowns.
“I just heard my stats and all that, and that’s crazy,” Jackson said. “I knew when Derrick got hurt and with young players that haven’t played a lot that I was going to have to pick it up, and that’s what I did.”
Freshman Derrick Davis, a dynamic talent who added an extra dimension to the Gateway backfield, was injured when he was hit the back and went awkwardly to the turf after catching a 17-yard pass with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter and the Gators trailing, 14-0. The game was stopped for more than 15 minutes while emergency personnel examined him, his parents came on the field and he was loaded into an ambulance.
“It looks like it’s all clear.” Holl said. “Everything checked out. It was a precaution, but it was the right precaution because he had some neck pain.”
There obviously is some doubt whether Davis will be back next week when Gateway makes its first appearance at Hersheypark Stadium against defending champion Archbishop Wood.