McKEESPORT, Pa. — A late-season match up between the undeafted McKeesport Tigers and the one-loss Gateway Gators lived up to the hype it has recieved all week.
Between the Tigers defense only allowing 19 points through seven games, and the Gators coming off two huge wins in a row, this was said to be the “Game of the Week” in the WPIAL, and it sure was for the first two quarters, before McKeesport pulled ahead, beating Gateway by the score of 41-17.
The Tigers and Gators have been rivals for quite some time, with the only difference being McKeesport is in Class 4A of the WPIAL and Gateway is in Class 5A nowadays. Old-school rivalries that are not played seasonaly just mean that much more for the teams and fans. This was something that just about anybody could tell early on. Each school’s crowd took turns chanting back and forth with chants such as “You can’t do that,” after each penalty by either squad. Things got chippy on the field with multiple unsportsman-like penalties being called early on.
The game started with Gateway marching straight down the field and knocking in a field goal to make the score, Gateway 3-0. This was quite the momentum grabber for the Gators because the Tigers defense only allows 2.7 points per game and they surpassed that on their first drive.
The ensuing series for the Tigers stalled after a 63-yard touchdown run by Bobbie Boyd was called back due to a holding. The following offensive series did not end much better for the Tigers as the punter shanked one out-of-bounds at their own 35-yard line.
It took the Gators just two plays to score again with Jaquon Reynolds catching an 18-yard touchdown, extending the Gators’ lead to 10-0.
Later in the second quarter, Tigers Bobbie Boyd had another long touchdown called back, this time a kickoff return was negated due to an illegal block. The very next play Tigers quarterback Jahmil Perryman ran a 75-yard touchdown to the house, making the score 10-7.
McKeesport scored again before halftime from 47-yards out, taking the lead over the Gators, 14-10.
The Tigers opened the second half in the same way they closed the first, a long touchdown. Yet again, Perryman found open grass for a 65-yard touchdown. The defense of the Tigers really began to settle in, pressuring and sacking Birch over-and-over. At the end of the third quarter the Tigers led 21-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers were looking to march and put the game out of reach. The attempt came up short when Gateway forced and recovered a fumble. A few plays later the Tigers return the favor with a scoop-and-score to go up 27-10.
The Tigers started the game down 10-0 and then would go on to score 41 unanswered points to win by the score of 41-17 and stay undeafted. Jahmil Perryman found the endzone four times while their defense completely shut the Gators defense out in the second half.
Next week the Gators return home to play Norwin, while the Tigers go to Latrobe to try to continue their perfect season.
