2004 Gateway vs. Fox Chapel Foxes - Pre-Game Warmup

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Showcase Matchup AAA vs. AAAA
Gateway Gators vs. Thomas Jefferson Jaguars

Monday, October 4, 2004 - from the offices of GatewayGators.com:
The premier game in the WPIAL will take place this Friday in Jefferson Hills (near Century 3 Mall...), as one of the top AAA teams, Thomas Jefferson (5-1), take on our Gateway Gators (5-1), ranked #2 in AAAA. It will be a battle of the classes for 2004 - out of all cross-over AAA/AAAA games - this is the game that features the two highest-ranked teams.

It is the first meeting in school history between these two teams. It's also a Pitt vs. Penn State matchup as both coaches are former college players; Bill Cherpak (TJ) is a former Pitt Panther lineman (1986-1989), and Terry Smith (GG) played wide receiver at Penn State from 1989-1992.

Of note for this game:

Justin King has 3,744 career rushing yards, and is 256 yards short of 4,000, which would make him the 4th player in WPIAL AAAA history to hit that mark

Gateway is the highest scoring WPIAL team, averaging 47.7 PPG, while the Gator defense has allowed the fewest points of any AAAA team

Gateway has envoked the "Mercy Rule" in five consecutive games (had a >35 point lead)

Thomas Jefferson is the 2nd highest scoring team in AAA, and has scored 210 points in 6 games, 35ppg, while allowing only 39 points, tops in AAA

The Gateway / TJ game will be broadcast state-wide on the PCN cable channel (http://www.pcntv.com/)

A huge crowd is expected at TJ for their annual homecoming game

TJ is ranked #3 in WPIAL AAA and #8 in PIAA - AAA

Gateway is ranked #2 in WPIAL AAAA and #3 in PIAA - AAAA

Quotables:

"My team is looking forward to playing against Justin King," TJ Coach Cherpak says, "I don't know if it is possible to stop him but what we have to do is not allow other players to make big plays in addition to his big plays."
"We are desperately looking for a challenge. TJ is a top class AAA team who can compete with anybody." - Gateway Coach Smith
"Our kids don't know much about them," Cherpak said. "But they do know about Justin King. They're excited to be playing Gateway."
"Tonight was definitely a statement game," said TJ Linebacker Kolodziej, referring to the 10/1/2004 TJ 38-0 victory over Elizabeth-Forward. "We showed we're ready for Gateway."
We're really excited," said Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak. "Few teams get to play in big games like this. It will be awesome. The kids are really looking forward to it."

High-scoring games becoming commonplace (Trib) 10/8/2004
Western Pennsylvanians still flock to high school fo... (PG) 10/8/2004
Fumbler (PG) 10/8/2004
PG East: Rick Shrum's high school football notebook (PG) 10/8/2004
PG South: High School Football Scouting Report (PG) 10/8/2004
PG South: TJ-Gateway a rare treat (PG) 10/8/2004
PG East: Central Catholic-Penn Hills football preview (PG) 10/8/2004
PG East: High school football scouting report (PG) 10/8/2004
PG South: Upper St. Clair in a battle of football un... (PG) 10/8/2004
PG North: High school football scouting report (PG) 10/8/2004
PG North: Rick Shrum's football notebook (PG) 10/8/2004
PG North: North Hills vs. Upper St. Clair (PG) 10/8/2004
Week 7 - AAAA #2 Gateway vs. AAA #3 Thomas Jefferson (Trib) 10/7/2004
Picks Jr. (Trib) 10/7/2004
Football Notebook (PG) 10/7/2004
Browne develops into two-sport scoring machine at TJ (OTHER) 10/6/2004
Gateway to step out of conference (TES) 10/6/2004
High School Royalty (TES) 10/6/2004
STATE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RANKINGS (OTHER) 10/6/2004
Tribune-Review High School Football Rankings (Trib) 10/5/2004
PittsburghLIVE WPIAL computer rankings - Week 7 (Trib) 10/5/2004
MSA Sports Top Ten - Football (MSA) 10/4/2004
2004 PA Football News rankings - Week 6 (GG) 10/4/2004
High School Sports Highlights (PG) 10/4/2004