West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez was on the field before the game, exchanging pleasantries with coaches from both Gateway and Upper St. Clair. Under NCAA rules, Rodriguez couldn't talk to the team's players.

But that didn't stop Gateway's Cam Saddler from saying a few things to Rodriguez. During pregame warmups, Saddler, a kid never at a loss for words, inched his way toward Rodriguez at the 50-yard line and bounced on his toes back and forth in front of the college coach while delivering a message.

"He didn't talk to me," Saddler said. "But I told him, 'Rich, you go in that concession stand and get yourself a big hot cocoa, some popcorn and some potato chips, because I'm about to put on a show.'"

Saddler was true to his word, even if it was a late-starting show.

Saddler, Gateway's star halfback and defensive back, came alive in the second half and led Gateway back from a fourth-quarter deficit. Trailing by two points after the third quarter, Gateway and Saddler sped past Upper St. Clair, 32-20, in a WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinal at North Allegheny's Newman Stadium.

Saddler took 20 carries for 190 yards, including 129 in the second half. He scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns on long runs and had a gigantic defensive play in the second half.

"The first half I might have disappointed [Rodriguez]," Saddler said. "I apologize for that. But that second half, I think he might have enjoyed himself."

The win puts Gateway (10-1) into the semifinals next week against North Allegheny, which defeated Penn Hills, 24-7, in another quarterfinal. Upper St. Clair, the defending WPIAL champion, put up a valiant effort against the No. 3 seed, and the Panthers finished with a 7-4 record.

"Our strategy is to stay patient," said Gateway coach Terry Smith. "We know we have some explosive athletes and a kid like Cameron Saddler, it's only a matter of time before he's going to break one."

The diminutive Saddler (5 feet 8, 160 pounds) has broken many defenses with his running.

But it was a defensive play he made that might have been the biggest play of the game.

Upper St. Clair led, 7-6, at halftime and took a 14-6 lead on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Shane Brennan to Adam Chrissis with 9:47 left in the third quarter. Gateway never covered the ensuing kickoff and Upper St. Clair's Spencer Scott recovered at the Gateway 19.

It looked like Upper St. Clair was going to widen its lead, moving to the 2-yard line, but the Panthers were called for a false start. Then on third-and-goal, Saddler intercepted a pass in the end zone.

"That [interception] was the key to the game," said Upper St. Clair coach Jim Render. "I guess I'll blame myself for a long time for that one. Just because I always think there's something I should've done to get us in [the end zone]."

"The biggest play of the game was the interception," Smith said. "That turned the momentum. That kind of picked our spirits back up and the kids never looked back from that."

Saddler doesn't play much defense and played last night only when Upper St. Clair got deep into Gateway territory.

"I took the fullback [Brett Scheller] on that play," Saddler said of the interception. "Man, he was big. I just thought to myself, 'Don't hit me because I might need a new helmet.' I was kind of surprised they threw it to [Scheller]."

Late in the third quarter, after an Upper St. Clair punt, Gateway took over at the Panthers' 43 and scored three plays later on Rob Kalkstein's 31-yard touchdown pass to Corey Brown. The 2-point conversion run failed and Gateway still trailed, 14-12, with 25 seconds left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Gateway defensive back Brian Williams intercepted a Brennan pass. Brennan finished 11 of 21 for 242 yards and Chrissis had five catches for 151 yards. But Brennan was intercepted two times and the Panthers also lost a fumble.

On the first play after Williams' interception, Saddler darted 53 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 11:03 left.

Williams returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown with 8:15 left and the extra-point made it 25-14.

Upper St. Clair drove to the Gateway 17 on the next possession, but Gateway's Leon Green picked up a fumble and returned it to the Upper St. Clair 36. Saddler scored on the next play.

"Cam is one of those guys who comes to you and says, 'Coach, give me the ball, I'll make it happen,'" Smith said. "He's an electric personality and I love the kid to death. I couldn't ask for a better kid to coach."

"Our defense played well 90 percent of the time," Render said. "Trouble is, the other 10 percent with that kind of speed kills you. They have a lot of athletes."