Gateway High School coach Terry Smith said his defenders cannot think they saw something that wasn't actually there.

No, he's not talking about ghouls or goblins. He was talking about something that has been scaring WPIAL defenses.

McKeesport's option offense is one of the most frightening -- and confusing -- in Western Pennsylvania.

On any play, Tigers quarterback Ty-Meer Brown could hand the ball off to either of two different backs or keep it himself. The whole idea is to trick the defense to commit to pursuing one player while the football is with someone else.

"I don't know if you can stop them," Smith said, adding he just hopes the Gators can slow McKeesport down.

Gateway (8-0, 5-0), the Post-Gazette's top-ranked WPIAL Class AAAA team, will travel to No. 2 McKeesport (7-1, 5-0) tomorrow night. The winner will come away with the Foothills Conference championship and in all probability, the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

The Tigers' only loss came in the first week of the season against St. Joseph's Prep from Philadelphia, ranked No. 4 in the state by the Post-Gazette and the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

McKeesport coach George Smith is wary of Gateway's offense. The Gators have a balanced attack, averaging more than 175 yards rushing and more than 170 yards passing a game.

"You have to play good defense first," George Smith said.

Gateway senior quarterback Rob Kalkstein, a four-year starter, is completing 64.9 percent of his passes and has thrown 17 touchdown passes in eight games.

Terry Smith said it is important for Gateway to distribute the football.

No Gateway player has scored more than one touchdown in each of the Gators' past three games. By itself, the trend is unimpressive, except Gateway scored 11 touchdowns against Connellsville, five against Erie McDowell and eight against Hempfield. Sixteen players have scored touchdowns this season.

"We just have so many different guys who can score on any play," Terry Smith said. "They can't just take one guy out of the game."

The Gators have the No. 1 scoring offense in WPIAL Class AAAA and the second best offense in the entire league, averaging 47.9 points per game. The Tigers aren't far behind, averaging 43.9 points per game, good enough for No. 2 in Class AAAA and third best overall.

Three McKeesport players have rushed for more than 400 yards, led by fullback Darrien Robinson, who has 1,214 yards rushing this season.

The Gators have prepared for Mc-Keesport by assigning multiple players to shadow the Tigers' top rushers, and Terry Smith said it is critical the Gators stick to their assignments no matter who has the ball.

They learned their lesson against McDowell two weeks ago. The Trojans had success running the option against Gateway, at least for the first half. After some adjustments, Gateway shut down McDowell's attack.

The McDowell game was a good learning experience for Gateway, Terry Smith said.

"It helped our players understand the responsibility of playing assignment football," he said.

Assignment football also means defending the pass. McKeesport does not throw the ball much -- Brown has attempted just 15 passes all season -- but the Tigers seem to sneak a pass into just about every game, trying to catch the defense napping.

Usually, it works. McKeesport has completed seven of Brown's throws with six going for touchdowns.

"We have to stay true to our assignment," Terry Smith said, "and not think we saw something different."

It's the least he could ask for with Halloween two days away. After all, nobody likes getting tricked.

n What: Gateway at McKeesport.

n When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

n Where: McKeesport's Weigle-Schaeffer Stadium.

n The skinny: Gateway is ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA by the Post-Gazette; McKeesport is No. 2. The winner will probably be the top seed for the WPIAL playoffs.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.