Gateway's transition to Class AAA isn't going so well.
Neither is the early portion of the Tom Nola era.
Nola, the architect of the Clairton dynasty, again failed to win his first game at Gateway as the Gators' offense sputtered in a 22-11 setback at West Mifflin.
The Gators have produced 17 points in their first two games.
“We actually played better tonight,” Nola said. “Believe it or not. We did some good things. Not to make excuses, but we're really young on offense, and it's going to take a little while longer to come together.”
Gateway led 11-0 in the third quarter, only to see West Mifflin star running back DiAngelo Mitchell take complete control of the contest. Mitchell rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, with 159 of his yards coming in the second half.
“They made some adjustments and started pulling their guards,” Nola said. “And we never recovered.”
Nola last lost two consecutive games in a regular season in 2005, the last time a team of his didn't qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. Gateway last started 0-2 in 2006.
His first win at Gateway looked likely at halftime, when Mitchell was sitting on 16 rushing yards, and the West Mifflin offense looking overmatched.
A tactical change confused the Titans in the first half.
“The problem was that they showed a 5-2 defense last week against Greensburg Salem,” West Mifflin coach Ray Braszo said. “And, to be honest with you, we spent most of the week preparing to see that look. But they came out and played a 4-3 defense, and it took us a while to adjust. We just weren't blocking the right people in the first half.”
Mitchell explained that West Mifflin's resurgence in the second half wasn't strictly based on making adjustments. Rather, Mitchell said, the ordinarily soft-spoken West Mifflin coach delivered to choice words to his lethargic team at halftime.
Whatever Braszo said worked.
“He gave us a pretty good speech in the locker room,” Mitchell said. “And it fired us up. We were a different team in the second half, and we could see Gateway getting tired. We saw them bending over. They were so tired, and we took it to them.”
Gateway took the second-half kickoff and added to its advantage as Jordan Washington's 29-yard field goal made it 11-0.
West Mifflin's first possession in the second half, however, changed the game.
Mitchell received seven consecutive carries during that drive, accounting for 61 yards and a touchdown.
“He's really impressive,” Nola said. “He's quite a running back.”
Mitchell then ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run to give West Mifflin the lead and a 5-yard touchdown scamper to put the game away.
Josh Yohe is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jyohe@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JoshYohe_Trib.
