Terry Totten couldn't deal with the emotions. When the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game ended last night, Central Catholic's coach briefly addressed his team on the field, walked straight to his car and left without talking with reporters.

And his team won.

In what will go down as one of the greatest championship games in WPIAL history, Central Catholic edged Gateway, 35-34, in overtime at Heinz Field. The difference in the game was an extra point in overtime. Gateway missed its kick after a touchdown while Central Catholic's Matt Oczypok made his.

Some of Gateway's players collapsed to the field in despair. The Gators had made one of the greatest comebacks in championship history after falling behind, 28-13, with 1:02 left. The Gators also had one of the unbelievable finishing plays in championship history when they scored on a hook-and-lateral play that covered 29 yards with one second left in the game. Then Gateway converted a two-point pass to tie the score, 28-28.

"I was looking for Coach Totten after the game, but he was MIA," said Central Catholic running back-defensive back Andrew Taglianetti.

Central Catholic tight end-defensive end Quentin Williams could understand why.

"He is an emotional man and I can see where this game could overcome someone," Williams said. "He has poured his entire self into us and he probably had nothing left."

Everyone was pretty much spent after this one. It was the highest-scoring Class AAAA title game and only the third overtime game in championship history (any classification). And how coincidental that the previous time Gateway won a WPIAL title, the difference was an extra point. In 1986, the Gators defeated North Hills, 7-6. Twenty-one years later, Gateway was kept from another championship because of an extra point.

Some had considered that '86 game the best in championship history. The game last night might have trumped it.

"I have been a part of two of the greatest games in WPIAL history. There is no question about that," said Gateway coach Terry Smith, who was the Gators' quarterback in 1986. "How can I be upset after the effort we gave in those last few minutes."

Totten was reached by cell phone after the game.

"I want to credit Gateway and Terry Smith because they never quit. My hat is off to them and we feel fortunate to get this win," Totten said. "But we feel just as bad that Gateway had to lose like they did.

"I'm glad to be a part of this. They're already saying this is one of the greatest games in WPIAL history."

Central Catholic opened a 15-point lead when Emmanuele Matthews returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown with 62 seconds remaining. Some of Central Catholic's players readied the water cooler to give Totten a victory shower. But Gateway miraculously came back.

A few plays after the ensuing kickoff, Corey Brown caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Rob Kalkstein and Ryan Lichtenstein kicked the extra point to make it 28-20 with 31 seconds left.

Then Lichtenstein recovered his own onside kick to give Gateway one final chance. A pass play put the ball at Central Catholic's 38, and Lichtenstein ran 9 yards to the Central Catholic 29. Gateway called timeout with nine seconds left to set up the trick play. The Gators put three receivers to the left with running back Cam Saddler in the left slot for one of the few times all game. Gateway receiver Jonathan Pryor lined up by himself on the right side.

Kalkstein dropped back to pass and hit Pryor over the middle. Just before Pryor was brought down at the 12, he gave Saddler a lateral at the 12, and Saddler ran for the touchdown. Tight end Steve Horvath caught the pass on the extra point to tie the score.

"I saw Pryor getting tackled and I thought, 'Oh, good.' Then all of a sudden I saw Saddler running with the ball," Taglianetti said. "I just couldn't believe it."

In high school overtimes, each team gets a possession from the 10. Gateway got the ball first and scored on fourth down when Leon Green moved to quarterback and plunged into the end zone on a sneak. But Gateway had trouble with the extra-point snap and Lichtenstein's kick didn't make it over the lines.

On Central Catholic's possession, Andrew Taglianetti ran 3 yards and quarterback Tino Sunseri 6 to put the ball at the 1. Sunseri couldn't score on a third-down sneak. On fourth down, Sunseri pushed his way into the end zone to tie the score.

Then Oczypok kicked one of the biggest extra points in Central Catholic history.

Saddler, Gateway's senior halfback, finished with 128 yards on 36 carries while Taglianetti had 103 on 13 attempts for Central Catholic. Kalkstein finished 11 of 20 for 196 yards.

"I'll remember this the rest of my life," Taglianetti said. "Just the feeling of seeing that extra point go in and seeing all your teammates coming onto the field. I'll never forget that feeling."