By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

If Gateway experiences even moderate success this year on the gridiron, they can look back at one drive on Friday at the Ridenour Athletic Center that propelled them.

Trailing Poinciana 21-14 with five minutes left, Panthers quarterback Roger Allen led a 12-play, 94-yard drive for a tying touchdown. Gateway went on to win, 36-35 in double overtime.

On the tying drive, the Panthers converted two third downs and one very big fourth down -- on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 26 seconds left, Allen scored the third of his four touchdowns by going over the right end. The senior had a big night, rushing for 156 yards on 26 carries, and hitting 5-of-9 passing for 51 more.

Allen, who looked to be operating in a completely different and higher gear than the Poinciana defense late in the game, said that came from an unwillingness to quit after the Gateway offense did an assortment of things in the first half to stymie themselves.

"I knew I had to take leadership. I told them that we had to step up for the team, and after that everybody got their job done," he said. "We just left the mistakes we made in the first half behind us."

The Panthers had three big ground-gaining plays (two for scores) called back on penalties in the first half, when the Eagles took a 13-0 lead thanks totally to do-it-all junior Michael Cirino. At cornerback in the first quarter, he stepped in front of an Allen pass and took the interception 42 yards for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Cirino the quarterback, on third-and-18 from the Eagles 12, found a wide open Joey DeComo near midfield, and the receiver high-tailed the rest of the way for an 88-yard scoring connection. C.J. Alcime added the PAT.

Gateway briefly made it 13-7 after Jordan Spence recovered a fumble at the Eagles 23 to set up Allen's 6-yard TD run, but Cirino answered right back by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards, and Edward Johnson's two-point conversion regained the two-score lead.

It was 21-14 in the fourth quarter when the Panthers stopped Poinciana near midfield, and Cirino dropped a punt at the 6-yard line with 5:02 left. Allen carried five times for 61 yards on the drive, and hit Zack Smith on a 23-yard pass on third-and-10 from the Panther 25.

In the first Kansas tiebreaker overtime (a set of downs from the 10), DeComo scored on third-and-7, and Allen matched it in just one play from the 10. The teams traded two-point conversions to make it 29-29 and set up a second overtime.

Gateway's Devonte Dobson scored from 11 yards out, and GHS Coach Marlin Roberts elected to send kicker Felipe Oliviera out for a PAT, which he hit to make it 36-29. Poinciana answered in one play, when Cirino found Allyn Sanchez on a slant route. PHS Coach Michael Timpson elected to go for the win and called a pass play, but the Panthers brought a heavy rush, forcing Cirino to toss a desperation pass that fell incomplete.

Roberts said that the halftime message was to be more aggressive, and that feeding Allen the ball was the best way to do it. 

"I wanted to mix it up but we chose to stick with going to Roger, and all those guys in the backfield just never gave up," he said.

Meanwhile, Timpson found solace in what he thought was a gutsy effort that went beyond 48 minutes.

"This stings, but looking at the kids afterwards showed they see it as a good thing," he said. "It showed we're headed in the right direction. I liked our effort. Rome wasn't built in a day."

Gateway will try to make it 2-0 next week at Harmony, who also won Friday, laying a 50-17 licking on Lake Nona. The Eagles will host Palm Bay Heritage.