McKeesport defeats Gateway in high scoring thriller

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

Andrew Schaffer | October 14, 2023

It was a high scoring game between Gateway and McKeesport and McKeesport ran all over Gateway in their 38-28 win. “We knew we had a real strong offensive line we really leaned on them we had a couple guys get injured during the game but they were the constant” said Coach Miller.

Gateway started the game with the ball but went three and out and punted it away to McKeesport. On the third play of the drive the ball was fumbled and scooped up by Shawn Moorefield who returned it for a touchdown. That made the score 7-o Gateway with 9:31 in the first quarter.

McKeesport got the ball for a second time but went three and out and punted it away. Gateway started the next drive close to midfield and on the first play Brad Birch found Kenny Lewis down to the McKeesport 35 yard line. Eventually Gateway extended their lead on a 1 yard run by Jaquon Reynolds. That made it 14-o Gateway with 5:32 in the first quarter.

On the following kickoff McKeesport responded with a 92 yard kick return by Kemon Spell. “Kemon’s run was amazing, it was definitely what the doctor ordered we needed to have a big play and he delivered for us” said Coach Miller. That made the score 14-7 Gateway with 5:19 in the first quarter.

Gateway got the ball back and once again they were marching right down the field with ease. They got inside the McKeesport 5 yard line. On third down Brad Birch tried to scramble for a touchdown but fumbled the ball and McKeesport recovered.

That McKeesport drive started at their own 3 yard line. It was a very long drive and they got into Gateway territory on a run by Anthony Boyd. On the thirteenth play of the drive Kemon Spell scored on a 16 yard run which tied the game at 14 with 7:16 in the second quarter. That was the changing point of the game for McKeesport. “They had their chances, it was a great job by them, and great job by the defense, but it’s a big win” said Coach Miler.

Gateway went three and out on their next drive and had to punt it away. After a bad punt McKeesport started at the Gateway 35 yard line. Once again it was a long drive and eventually McKeesport took the lead on a 38 yard field goal by Nathan Kendrick. That gave McKeesport a 17-14 lead with 46 seconds left in the first half. Gateway quickly marched down the field but the field goal attempt ended up being blocked.

McKeesport got the ball to start the second half. On the second play of the drive Keith Spell scored on a 79 yard run which made the score 24-14 McKeesport with 11:10 in the third quarter the run featured a stiff arm at the end and Spell was also the main player in the McKeesport win he had 201 yards on 23 carries. “That’s my move I always hit that, I’m too slow, when he caught up to me, I was watching him trying to run he got close so I had to stiff him” said Spell.

The third quarter was a wild shootout between Gateway and McKeesport. Gateway started their first drive of the second half at their own 14 yard line. On the fifth play of the drive Brad Birch found Kenny Lewis for a 59 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 24-20 McKeesport with 9:12 in the third quarter. Brad Birch and Kenny Lewis both had a monster game. Birch was 27 of 40 for 414 yards and Lewis had 9 catches for 169 yards.

The story of the second half was McKeesport’s run game. McKeesport got the ball for a second time and the main play was a pass play down to the Gateway 13 yard line. A couple plays later Anthony Boyd scored on a 7 yard run. Boyd also had a big game for McKeesport he had 133 yards on 18 carries. That made the score 31-20 McKeesport with 7:12 in the third quarter.

Gateway got the ball for a second time in the second half and again marched right down the field. They got into McKeesport territory with a big pass play and eventually Gateway scored on a 3 yard run by Jaquon Reynolds. That made the score 31-28 McKeesport with 4:49 in the third quarter.

McKeesport started their next drive close to midfield and again it was a very long drive. Eventually the drive was finished off by Keith Spell on a 1 yard run. “He probably had 10 times the carries as he ever had, he’s only run the ball the last couple of weeks for us and he just gives you that added dimension and he’s hard to bring down and got us big big yards” said Coach Miller. That made the score 38-28 McKeesport with 11:15 remaining in the game.

Gateway had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game which included the following drive. A pass was completed to Steven Jenkins which got the them into McKeesport territory. Jenkins had a major game for Gateway he had 12 catches for 197 yards. A couple plays later the ball was fumbled and McKeesport recovered.

Gateway had the ball twice inside the McKeesport 5 yard line and both times McKeesport’s defense came up big. One drive was a turnover downs and the other a fumble. “They came up big, they leaned on each other, they didn’t point fingers and that’s how big wins happen” said Coach Miller. The 2 stops gave McKeesport a 38-28 victory.

Next week Gateway and McKeesport return to conference play. Gateway travels to Norwin and McKeesport hosts Latrobe.