WEEK ONE – GAME PREVIEW: State College vs Gateway

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2024 high school football season officially gets underway this weekend and we're starting out with a tremendous matchup between the State College Little Lions and the Gateway Gators at Gateway Senior High School on Friday evening.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams are full of talent coming into the 2024 season with a combined 30 players between the two programs featured on PrepRedzone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>WHAT THEY DID IN 2023 &amp; KEY LOSSES</strong></h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State College is coming off a 2023 season in which they went 7-4 including 6-2 in conference play, They started the season off strong with a 5-1 record but had ups-and-downs down the stretch, losing back-to-back games to Harrisburg and Cumberland Valley before picking up wins over Chambersburg and Altoona to finish off the regular season. Their playoff run would be ended rather quickly with a 47-20 loss to McDowell.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Little Lions didn't lose a ton this offseason but did have to depart with tight end Jake Hohenshelt&nbsp; and defensive lineman Justin Castro-Dixon. Hohenshelt was considered one of the top tight ends in the state while Castro-Dixon was a quality defensive tackle for State College. However, the biggest loss for the Little Lions this fall was by far seeing running back [player_tooltip player_id='402439' first='D'Antae' last='Sheffey'] opt to transfer to Harrisburg. Sheffey is considered a top-30 talent in the class of 2026 and is currently committed to Syracuse.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gateway is looking to bounce back from a 5-6 campaign in 2023 that saw the Gators struggle in out of conference matchups but dominate in the WPIAL AAAAA Big East conference with a 5-0 record. Out of conference, they dropped games to Mt. Lebanon, Woodland Hills, North Hills, McKeesport, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Moon Area.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Gators did have to say goodbye to several notable contributors from their 2023 roster including quarterback Brad Birch, running back Jaquon Reynolds, defensive back Donovan Biggs, defensive back Steven Jenkins, linebacker Remy Bose, and&nbsp; linebacker Ahmad Harris. Jenkins, Bose, Birch, and Reynolds were all considered top 150 prospects in the state for the class of 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>TOP 2025 ATHLETES:</strong></h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This premier matchup features a pair of top 100 prospects in the class of 2025.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our top ranked player in this game as part of the class of 2025 is State College linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='269136' first='Michael' last='Gaul'], the No. 42 player in the class of 2025. A terrific linebacker, Gaul has multiple FBS and FCS offers. Overall, Gaul has great play recognition skills, is a strong athlete, and a dominant force in the middle of State College's defense.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gateway athlete [player_tooltip player_id='255086' first='Kenny' last='Lewis IV'] is our second highest rated player in this matchup. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound athlete is our No. 88 player in the state and holds several FBS offers already. He plays in all three facets of the game at cornerback, wide receiver, but also is a dynamic and dominant return man for Gateway. He has the ability to take over any game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other ranked 2025 players featured in this matchup on Friday include DB [player_tooltip player_id='1317127' first='Ty' last='Salazer'] (State College - No. 116), DL [player_tooltip player_id='599561' first='Sam' last='Mayer'] (State College - No. 209), WR Derek Sleby Jr. (Gateway - No. 214), WR [player_tooltip player_id='598980' first='Dyson' last='Harper'] (Gateway - No. 222), QB [player_tooltip player_id='1091208' first='Eddie' last='Corkery'] (State College - No. 374), LB Marc Knight Jr (Gateway - No. 382), LB [player_tooltip player_id='599458' first='Amari' last='Gans'] (Gateway - No. 403), OL [player_tooltip player_id='599304' first='Reese' last='Wilson'] (State College - No. 617), DL [player_tooltip player_id='599307' first='Elijah' last='Fisher'] (Gateway - No. 627).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>UNDERCLASSMEN TO WATCH</strong></h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State College has a handful of underclassmen to watch heading into this Friday. We'll start with 2026 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1338055' first='Quincy' last='Smith'] and 2026 tight end [player_tooltip player_id='1155890' first='Jake' last='Lukac']. Smith is a top-75 player in his class while Lukac comes in within the top-250. The Little Lions also have a pair of standout offensive lineman in [player_tooltip player_id='647291' first='Luke' last='Milito'] (2026) and [player_tooltip player_id='1180691' first='Matt' last='Gaul'] (2027), the younger brother of Micahel Gaul. Like Michael, Matt is considered a top-100 prospect in the class of 2027 while Milito is a top-250 prospect and a top-40 offensive lineman.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gateway has plenty of underclassmen on our radar, in fact, among their 20 players who have profiles here on PrepRedzone, 14 are underclassmen. The leader in that category is 2026 defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='388167' first='Carlos' last='Diggs'], our No. 66 prospect in the class of 2026. OL [player_tooltip player_id='1054376' first='Maleek' last='Anderson'] (No. 113), OL [player_tooltip player_id='1155905' first='Kaiyen' last='Mbandi'] (No. 207), OL [player_tooltip player_id='647442' first='Roberson' last='Louis-Jeune Jr.'] (No. 246), and ATH [player_tooltip player_id='853781' first='Shawn' last='Moorefield Jr'] (No. 262) are all top-300 prospects in the class as well. The Gators also have several 2027 and 2028 prospects worth monitoring as well.<br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>THREE THINGS TO WATCH</strong><br></h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Which offensive line will have the better day?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If you can't tell, both State College and Gateway enter this season with what is expected to be pretty strong offensive lines, making Friday night's matchup super intriguing in the trenches.Both programs will be relying on their offensive lines to lead them to victory this season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gateway this fall returns all five starters from last season which should provide a huge advantage for the Gators in most games this season.They also overall have strong size across the board with four of their five offensive lineman weighing in at 250 pounds or more.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State College is also well equipped this fall on the offensive line and returns a considerable size of their own.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><br><strong>Which new starting running back will have the better day?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both programs lost their star running backs this offseason and will have new starting running backs this fall. It will be interesting to see who emerges both for State College and Gateway on Friday in the backfield. State College said goodbye to their top three rushers from last season with [player_tooltip player_id='1463293' first='Lamar' last='Wilson'] as their top returning rusher with 21 carries for 67 yards last season. For Gateway, [player_tooltip player_id='599458' first='Amari' last='Gans'] will take over the lead from Reynolds. Gans is a quality athlete but filling the shoes of Reynolds is going to be tough as Reynolds totaled over 1,000 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns a year ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-23f3f852-7fff-94b5-7eca-a98e741c5e74"><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-family: Arial, sans-serif;background-color: transparent;vertical-align: baseline"></span></div></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ty Salazar vs Kenny Lewis</strong> / <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='388167' first='Carlos' last='Diggs']</strong><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The most intriguing matchup on Friday night is going to be State College's Ty Salazar vs Gateway's Kenny Lewis. While Salazar isn't as highly ranked as Lewis, he is a phenomenal talent and is coming off a 2024 season in which he totaled 66 receptions for 1,079 yards and nine touchdowns. Lewis as we mentioned before is tremendous in all facets of the game including as a cornerback, we expect Lewis to be matchup on Salazar frequently on Friday. When it's not Lewis, expect [player_tooltip player_id='388167' first='Carlos' last='Diggs'] to get plenty of looks at Salazar as well in this matchup. Additionally, we'll be intrigued to see how State College quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1091208' first='Eddie' last='Corkery'] is able to perform against this expected to be stoudt Gateway defense.&nbsp;Overall, this will be one of the top defensive back duos that State College will face all season, giving the Little Lions a strong and very challenging matchup to start the season. If the Gators have success slowing down Salazar, look for State College to potentially look towards 2026 tight end [player_tooltip player_id='1155890' first='Jake' last='Lukac'] as a go-to target in the passing attack. <br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->