Coming off a 45-7 thrashing of Gloucester Catholic, Gateway’s football team went into their matchup against the 0-6 Mastery Warriors with their heads held high. Not only were they feeling great about their performance last week, but the Gators were thrilled with it being the Homecoming game. But the festivities didn’t get to them, as they beat the Warriors 40-20.
The Gators came out incredibly strong, putting up 26 points in the first quarter, whilst allowing the Warriors none. Specifically, Gateway’s seniors came to play, scoring three out of the four touchdowns. Senior D.J. Binck got the Gators started with a short rushing touchdown to put the lead at six. Senior Aiden Barbato then got a rushing touchdown of his own, extending the lead to 12. His extra point kicked it up to 13.
Then Binck flashed his arm, throwing a 20-yard strike to Devin Foreman, another senior, to further the lead all the way to 20. Finally, Lamar Smith joined the party with a very quintessential ‘only works in high school’ play. He started by running backwards, then proceeded to run around the entirety of Mastery’s defense for a 35-yard touchdown to further increase the Gators’ lead.
After some defense by both sides, the Gators capitalized on a high snap by Mastery for a touchdown. On what was intended to be a punt, the snap went way over the punter Derwin Cabrera’s head and ended up in the back of the end zone. He tried to pick it up, but he couldn’t, and Gators scooped up a free six points, increasing the lead to 32-0. Aiden Barbato hit the PAT to extend the lead by 1.
After 33 unanswered points, Mastery finally struck late in the second quarter with a short QB rush by Cabrera, cutting the lead down to 33-6 Gateway. Then, with just a few seconds remaining, Binck took a designed run out of shotgun for a 70-yard touchdown, simply outrunning the Mastery defense, establishing a 40-6 Gateway lead. Finally, after almost an hour and a half of real time, the first half was over.
Coming out of the half, the Gators had decided to rest their starters because of their immense lead. Mastery took advantage of the backups, scoring a touchdown on a touchdown pass from Cabrera to Emmanuel Bonilla. After they stopped the Gators’ offense, the Warriors punched in their second touchdown of the half during the fourth quarter, a 45-yard catch by Bonilla, shrinking the lead down to 40-20.
After letting Mastery score touchdowns on their last several drives, the Gators decided to put the starters back in halfway through the fourth quarter. With only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors didn’t have enough time to complete the comeback. With the lead secured, the Gators lined up in victory formation to complete their beatdown of Mastery and to kick off homecoming weekend on a high note.
The Gators played an excellent game, with an especially strong offense!
Their running game was their best strength indeed, as the Gators racked up an impressive 313 total rushing yards across five ball carriers. The defense also played great, forcing a number of turnovers.
In conclusion, the Gators won big on Homecoming night with a dominating win of Mastery 40-20. Led by their incredible ground game, the Gators simply could not be stopped, at one time possessing a 40-6 lead. This win now extends their winning streak to three and improves their record to 5-3 as they look to make the playoffs, really giving the seniors something to remember.
