Gateway defense stops Warriors
Gateway (6-1, 3-1) and PennTrafford (4-3, 1-2) have each finished in the top two of their conference for five consecutive years.
Within that time frame, Gateway has won two WPIAL titles and Penn-Trafford is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion.
In Friday’s battle of the heavyweights, Gateway came away with a 21-10 win. Both offenses struggled to find their footing but the Gators did enough to win. Gateway leaned on running back Jaquon Reynolds, who carried the ball 23 times for 86 yards and a score.
Both defenses came away with two interceptions, but none was more crucial than Remy Bose’s. Bose picked off Penn-Trafford quarterback Conlan Greene late in the fourth quarter and returned it 60 yards for a score to put the game out of reach. Penn-Trafford didn’t score a touchdown until there was 2:13 left in the game.
After blowing out Hempfield last week, Gateway has proven it can find different ways to win after putting up only 191 yards of offense against the Warriors.
More Class 5A
Peters Township 48, Moon 8: The Indians (6-1, 3-1) cruised to victory against winless Moon (0-7, 0-2). Brendan McCullough got the scoring started for the Indians with a 51-yard punt return. Peters Township quarterback Chris Cibrone completed 7 of 12 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Woods was one of four Indians to register rushing touchdowns – with Vinny Sarcone, Logan King and Ethan Wertman finding paydirt as well.
Franklin Regional 35, Norwin 0: The Panthers (4-2, 3-0) stayed atop of the Big East Conference standings, shutting out Norwin (16, 0-3). Panthers running back Zach Bewszka had a monster game, rushing 16 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Franklin Regional’s Ayden Hudock caught four passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns and had a pick-six on defense.
North Hills 35, Shaler 23: North Hills (3-4, 3-1) improved their win streak to three games with a win against Shaler (4-3, 1-1). Cooper Thompson and Julius Green each scored two touchdowns for North Hills. Shaler’s Joe DeSabato caught three touchdowns.
Penn Hills 29, Fox Chapel 0: Penn Hills (4-3, 2-1) running back Amir Key rushed for 154 yards and a touchdown in the Indians win against Fox Chapel (0-7, 0-3). Raion Strader scored two touchdowns – one on a 62-yard punt return. Penn Hills racked up 422 yards of total offense.
Pine-Richland 35, Central Catholic 13: The Rams (4-3) are above .500 for the first time this season after beating Central Catholic (3-4). Ethan Pillar and Ryan Palmieri combined for four rushing touchdowns. Vikings quarterback Peyton Wehner threw two touchdowns to cut the deficit to one, but the Rams pulled away after an Andrew Mellis pick-six.
South Fayette 20, Plum 6: South Fayette (4-3) running back Nate Deanes led the Lions to victory, rushing for three scores. South Fayette had 302 yards of total offense. Jerome Brazell had the lone touchdown for Plum (3-4).
Class 6A
North Allegheny 20, Mt.
Lebanon 6: The Tigers (6-1, 3-0) bounced back after their first loss of the season last week by beating Mt. Lebanon (2-5, 1-2) as Logan Kushner and Khiryn Boyd scored touchdowns. Mt. Lebanon was held to 94 yards of offense.
Canon-McMillan 49, Baldwin 7: Baldwin (1-6) had no answers
for Canon-McMillan’s offense in this one. The Big Macs rushed for 263 yards on the ground — with running back Jake Kasper accounting for 134 of those yards. Canon-McMillan ( 3- 4) quarterback Mike Evans threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. Austyn Winkleblech had two touchdown receptions.
Seneca Valley 42, Hempfield 12: Seneca Valley (5-2) moved its winning streak to four with their win against Hempfield (52). Raiders running backs Kai West and Wyatt Carver both found the end zone twice. Seneca Valley quarterback Graham Hancox accounted for two touchdowns – one though the air and another on the ground. Hempfield has lost two consecutive games.