Jim Benson no longer lives in Monroeville or the Pittsburgh area.

He resides in central Ohio, and he cherishes the chance to come back to the area and catch up with family and friends.

Benson was part of a special gathering Friday night at the Embassy Suites hotel in Moon Township.

He joined his fellow Gateway High School graduates and former Gators football teammates and coaches, as the Gateway 1986 WPIAL Quad-A championship team took its place in the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

"It's great to get back and see everyone and share some great memories," said Benson, a senior starting outside linebacker on the team.

One of Benson's fondest memories was looking up at the stands at Three Rivers Stadium and seeing more than 20,000 fans watching Gateway's heart-stopping 7-6 victory over rival North Hills

"We were all together working toward one goal," Benson said.

"We had a focus on getting that goal. We had the confidence and the work ethic to get the job done, whether it was in film studies, in the weight room or on the practice field."

Ten members from that team--Benson, Todd Washington, Mike Zorich, Troy Thornton, Bill Truschel, Jim Roscoe, Rich Carver, Tony DiNinno, Jerry Lee and Terry Smith--as well as head coach Pete Antimarino and assistant coach Russ Gratton, were on hand Friday to celebrate the team's accomplishments.

Gateway's 1986 team was the first Quad-A football team to go 13-0 since the largest classification was formed in 1980.

The Gators that year filled the void of a year earlier--a 0-0 tie with North Hills in the WPIAL title game.

"We wanted to get back there and claim that title," Benson said.

Gateway outscored its opponents 285-49 in the 1986 season.

"They were just a determined bunch of players," Gratton said. "You could see it in their eyes, every single game. When they went on that field, they expected to win."

Gateway went on to finish No. 3 in the final USA Today football rankings, and North Hills fell from its top spot to seventh in the poll.

"These are the guys I grew up with, sweated with, worked hard with and played for," Smith said.

"They are lifelong friends. We accomplished something that's truly tremendous. This honor, it's bringing us back for a reunion. It's an awesome feeling."

Antimarino finished his distinguished 31-year head coaching tenure at Gateway with a 236-80-12 record and five WPIAL championships.

At the banquet, he spoke of still having vivid memories of the season and the young men who sacrificed so much to be the best.

"It's tremendous to be playing for the WPIAL championship, but how often do you have two high school teams from the same city playing for the right to be called the USA Today's No. 1 team in the country?" Antimarino asked.

"Our players, coaches and fans were really fired up to play the No. 1- ranked team in the country. North Hills was a talented, well-coached team. We were just fortunate to come out on top that day."

Gateway went ahead 7-0, but it saw North Hills pull within one with a touchdown in the waning moments of the game.

North Hills went for two, but the conversion pass was tipped by Gil- bert "Gibby" Gigliotti and intercepted by Todd Washington.

Celebration erupted.

"I still remember looking up and seeing the 20,000 to 25,000 people in the stands," Benson said.

Friday's banquet also brought together Antimarino and fellow coaching legend Chuck Klausing, whose 1959 WPIAL- champion Braddock football team also earned hall-of-fame induction.

Klausing started his coaching career in Pitcairn, and he hired Antimarino as his assistant after Antimarino graduated from New Mexico Highlands College in 1952.

Antimarino then succeeded Klausing at Pitcairn, when Klausing accepted the Braddock coaching job in 1954.

In addition to the Braddock and Gateway football teams, the WPIAL Hall of Fame Class of 2010 featured eight athletes, four coaches, two officials and a contributor.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Steve Breaston, a football and track and field star at Woodland Hills, was inducted Friday, as well as former standout McKees- port linebacker and Penn State All-American Brandon Short.

Short played seven years in the NFL.