By Anthony Jaskulski

After dismantling their first three opponents and averaging more than 45 points in those games, the Gateway Gators seem due for their first true test of the season.

Friday night was not it.

With the Battle of the Bell tradition with Penn-Trafford revived after a 52 year hiatus, the Gators (4-0) rung up Penn-Trafford (1-3), pounding the Warriors 44-8 at Antimarino Stadium Friday night.

Quarterback Robbie Kalkstein led Gateway, going 13 of 19 for 194 yards passing with three touchdowns.

“It was a pretty good night for us,” said Kalkstein. “Things seemed clear and we took advantage of big plays. It was just our kind of night.”

Gateway owned the first quarter in particular, scoring on their first three drives, including a methodical 9 play-76 yard drive, capped by a Brian Williams 9-yard touchdown run, followed by a 57-yard touchdown pass from Kalkstein to Corey Brown, making the score 20-0 in 12 minutes of play.

Kalkstein’s favorite target, Brown caught four passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, leading all receivers for the night.

And when Gateway wasn’t ripping apart the Warriors’ secondary, the ground game—anchored by a potent offensive line—had the PT front four pushed back five or more yards, opening gaping holes for the Gators running backs to surge through the entire night.

“I owe everything to the line, because they did mostly everything,” said running back Dorian Bell. “They plowed ahead and made some huge holes for us to get through. We wouldn’t have been anything without them tonight, or all year really.”

Gateway finished with 199 yards total on only 23 carries.

Bell added 60 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, while Williams led all rushers with 92 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries.

“We played pretty good in that first half,” said Gateway head coach Terry Smith. “They made a few mistakes and we capitalized and took advantage of them. I was pretty pleased about that.”

The Gators made with three interceptions on the night, including a Brown pick in the second quarter that set up a 44-yard run from Williams to put Gateway ahead 27-0 with not even two minutes expired in the second quarter.

Gateway posted 353 yards in the first half with five touchdowns, after another Kalkstein to Brown touchdown connection, this time for 29-yards, made the score a dictating 41-0.

“This win feels good, especially with the bell and everything,” said Bell. “This game had a lot of hype and everybody was saying that Penn-Trafford was pretty good, but we practiced hard this week and came out strong.”

The Gators held the Warriors to just 209 yards and 10 first downs, keeping them out of the end zone until the Gateway JV squad surrendered a Christian Boscoe five-yard score and a two point conversion following in the fourth quarter gave Trafford their final score of eight.

Bell finished with seven tackles from his linebacker position, while corner Orne Bey harassed the Warriors all night, leading Gateway with nine tackles.

“I think there are still some things we need to work on like any football team does,” said Smith. “We made some mistakes and we know we have to get better with some things. We’re nowhere where we want to be right now, not even close.”