Gateway had a lofty national ranking, a supposedly unstoppable offense and big-time college recruits.

But Bethel Park is the one clearing space in the trophy case for the championship hardware.

Bethel Park shook the world of WPIAL football last night, knocking off Gateway, 10-6, in the Class AAAA championship at Heinz Field.

Bethel Park, a team whose best players hope to maybe play in the Ivy League, used a tremendous defensive effort and an efficient running game to turn back Gateway, the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked team in the WPIAL and PIAA since the second week of the season. Gateway also was ranked in the top 10 in national polls.

But Gateway (12-1) managed only seven first downs and 107 yards of offense against Bethel Park (13-0), and Gateway also turned the ball over five times. Bethel Park running back Lyle Marsh was a workhorse, rushing for 113 yards on 27 attempts.

It was the lowest-scoring Class AAAA final since 1990, but it was absolutely beautiful for Bethel Park as the Black Hawks claimed the first football title in school history. It came against a team that had been averaging 41.6 points a game, a Gateway squad that seemingly everyone expected to win a title.

"Gateway has all those Division I college guys and we heard about it all week," Marsh said. "We just tried to stay focused on what we had to do and I think we did a good job of that."

The victory puts Bethel Park into the PIAA quarterfinals. The Black Hawks will play State College Friday night at North Allegheny.

Gateway, meanwhile, lost in the title game for the second year in a row and the third time in coach Terry Smith's seven years. But the Gators weren't supposed to win the other two games. They were just about everyone's favorite this year.

Gateway was its own worst enemy, giving away three fumbles and quarterback Rob Kalkstein threw two interceptions. The game started badly for Gateway when it fumbled away the opening kickoff. It was a sign of things to come.

"Our defense kept us in it," Smith said. "[Linebacker] Dorian Bell was big time for us again. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't finish it. We had big dreams and high aspirations this year, but we just fell short."

All of Bethel Park's scoring came in the first half on a short touchdown run by Marsh in the first quarter and a 27-yard field goal by Patrick Lydon in the second. Bethel Park led, 10-6, at halftime.

When Marsh scored on a 2-yard run with 52 seconds left in the first quarter, it marked only the second time this season Gateway trailed. The other time was early in the first quarter against Hempfield.

"You know the story. Some of our linemen were outmanned by 40-50 pounds," Bethel Park coach Jeff Metheny said. "But they couldn't block some of our guys."

Bethel Park's only touchdown was set up by a Gateway turnover and a Bethel Park trick play. Bethel Park linebacker Adam Lazenga intercepted a pass at the Black Hawks' 34 and returned it to the Gateway 41. Two plays later, Marsh took a hand-off, ran to his right a few steps and handed off to receiver Matt Bliss, who lofted a left-handed pass to John Schademan for a 30-yard gain to the Gateway 8. Marsh scored two plays later.

A Bethel Park turnover set up Gateway's only score. Bell hit Marsh in the backfield, also poked the ball loose and Gateway recovered at the Bethel Park 32. Gateway then faced a fourth-and-goal at the 1, but Bell ran into the end zone for a score with 7:35 left. Ryan Lichtenstein's extra-point kick was blocked and Bethel Park held onto a 7-6 lead.

Another Gateway mistake led to Bethel Park's second score. A punt snap went over the head of Licntenstein. He picked up the ball, but was hit and dropped at the 7 with 1:51 left in the half. It set up Lydon's fifth field goal of the year, a 27-yarder with 36 seconds left in the half.

Bethel Park's Bre Ford turned a screen pass into a 26-yard touchdown play in the third quarter, but a holding penalty nullified the score.

Gateway's only serious scoring threat in the second half came when the Gators took over at their own 43 and moved to the Bethel Park 36. But on second-and-7, Kalkstein dropped to pass and was hit hard by Andrew Fossick. Kalkstein fumbled and Rock Vomer recovered at the 42.

Marsh said, "No one really figured us to win this thing, but we don't care. We kind of liked that. We played the underdog role and it worked out for us really great."