Gators edge Wolverines

Gateway back after layoff, now 3-0

Gateway played a game Saturday night for the first time in a month. The Gators shook off some rust — and Woodland Hills, too.

Gateway jumped to a twotouchdown lead in the first half and hung on for a 2116 win against the Wolverines in a WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference game at Wolvarena.

Gateway had three games canceled because of COVID-19 cases and the Woodland Hills contest was only Gateway’s third of the season. The win gave Gateway, the Post-Gazette’s No. 2-ranked Class 5A team in the WPIAL and state, a 3-0 record, 2-0 in Big East.

Three players scored Gateway touchdowns. Senior running back Derrick Davis scored on a 1-yard run, rushed for 94 yards on 23 carries and caught 4 passes for 67 yards.

Woodland Hills (4-2, 2-2) cut the lead to 14-8 in the third quarter on Deontae Williams’ 62-yard touchdown pass to T’Rek Scipio and got the ball back on a turnover in Gateway territory. But Patrick Body intercepted a Woodland Hills pass and Gateway went on to take a 21-8 lead on Kelvon Nelson’s 23-yard touchdown run.

Other games

Aliquippa 39, Montour 14: Running back Vernon Redd and quarterback Vaughn Morris had big games as Aliquippa (6-0, 4 -0) clinched the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A Parkway Conference with a win at Montour (4-2, 2-2). Redd ran for 175 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown while Morris completed 8 of 14 for 149 passes and was involved in four touchdowns. Morris threw two TD strikes to Tajie Thornton and also scored on runs of 6 and 10 yards. Montour was held to 160 yards offense.

Seneca Valley 19, Baldwin 16 (OT): Seneca Valley had only 145 yards of offense, but Nolan Dworek’s 10-yard run in overtime gave the host Raiders (4-1, 4-1) the Class 6A Quad County Conference win. Baldwin (2-1, 1-2) tied the score with 1:35 left when quarterback Colton Brain scored on a 1-yard run. On Baldwin’s possession in overtime, the Highlanders had to settle for Fletcher Hindman’s 24-yard field goal. That set up Dworek’s winning score. Dworek finished with 108 yards on 19 carries while Brain completed 16 of 27 for 208 yards.

California Carmichaels 20: In a battle of unbeatens, California (50, 5-0) used another big game from Jaeden Zuzak and the Trojans clinched the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A Tri-County South. Zuzak, the WPIAL’s leading rusher, ran for 252 yards and five touchdowns and threw for a TD. Carmichaels (5-1, 3-1) trailed by only 21-14 at halftime, but California opened up a 35-14 edge heading into the final quarter.