Back to back: Belle Vernon shuts down Avonworth, 26-0, repeats as WPIAL champion
PITTSBURGH 鈥� All season long, Belle Vernon鈥檚 football team prepared and improved weekly with the hope of repeating as both the WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA champions.
Thanks to their 26-0 win over Avonworth at Acrisure Stadium Friday night, the Leopards (11-1) have the program鈥檚 second consecutive WPIAL crown and third overall.
Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert used a different approach in comparing this year鈥檚 crown to last year鈥檚 championship, which ended a 27-year WPIAL drought for the Leopards.
鈥淭his was an 鈥榰s鈥� victory,鈥� Humbert said. 鈥淲inning that trophy last year was for all the kids who came before, it was for the community and everyone who helped lay brick and lay foundation.
鈥淭his (title) is specifically for these guys. I would be hard pressed to find a group of seniors, or a team, that has more character, more grit, more determination, toughness.鈥�
The win also sends the Leopards into the PIAA semifinals, where they will play Hickory (11-2) this Friday at North Allegheny. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Belle Vernon quarterback Braden Laux, an Eastern Michigan commit, ran for two touchdowns, threw another and had several key stops on defense against the Antelopes. He mirrored Humbert鈥檚 鈥渦s鈥� approach.
鈥淭o win our senior year, it means a lot more, and like coach said, last year was for everyone and this one was for us,鈥� Laux said.
Last year, it was Quinton Martin who had three touchdowns in a 24-7 win over Avonworth in the WPIAL title game, but the Antelopes sent at least two players with the Penn State commit when he would line up at wide receiver, in hopes of negating Martin鈥檚 playmaking ability.
And while Avonworth coach denied his team focused on Martin, it was obvious to everyone else that the Antelopes tried to take him out of the game with their defensive strategy.
Martin didn鈥檛 carry the ball until the third quarter and finished with 46 yards on nine carries and had five receptions for 25 yards.
Despite the low statistical output for Martin, his humble reaction showed that he puts the team first.
鈥淚t is all about the team,鈥� he shared. 鈥淭hey knew what happened last year and they keyed on me a lot tonight. When I was at receiver, they put two, maybe three, on me and it opened up other things for us.鈥�
Laux agreed that it made the top-seeded Leopards spread around their attack.
鈥淨uinton led the team in everything last year and they keyed on him so much,鈥� Laux said. 鈥淚t is hard when they keyed two guys on him all game, but it allowed others to make plays.鈥�
Humbert spoke about it.
鈥淚f we put (Martin) at receiver, teams dedicate three over to him,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou take what they give you.
鈥淚f they key on one kid, we have the guys we can go to.鈥�
Belle Vernon鈥檚 defense picked a great time to earn its third shutout, as second-seeded Avonworth (12-1) came in with the third highest-scoring offense in Class 3A.
鈥淚t was not an easy game plan, and it was a challenge,鈥� said Humbert. 鈥淚 am super proud of these guys.
鈥淭he most gratifying thing is their work ethic from Saturday til Thursday, we kept them long and I think those kids would have stayed to 10 (p.m.) if we needed them.鈥�
Belle Vernon didn鈥檛 allow Avonworth to convert any of its 10 third downs or any of its four fourth downs.
鈥淚t was personal to the kids, the coaches,鈥� Leopards defensive coordinator Brett Berish said of Avonworth talking about Belle Vernon all season. 鈥淲e felt disrespected, and as the defending state and WPIAL champions, I couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the boys.
鈥淥ur defensive staff of Jeff Ogrodowski, Mike Steeber, Aaron Szackle, Frank Muccino, Scot Bryer, and Logan Pfrogner really stepped it up.鈥�
The Leopards limited Avonworth to 193 yards on 45 plays.
鈥淭hey play some really good defense,鈥� Johncour said. 鈥淚t was not our night on offense. Any time you don鈥檛 score points, it鈥檚 not a good look.鈥�
Avonworth avoided Martin on the opening kickoff, and it backfired.
Deaubre Lightfoot took the kick at the BV 30 and returned it 48 yards to the Avonworth 22. That led to a two-yard keeper for a touchdown by Laux one play after he completed an 18-yard pass to Martin. Preston Rathway鈥檚 extra point gave the Leopards a 7-0 with 10:59 to go in the first quarter.
Rathway extended BV鈥檚 lead to 10-0 with a 26-yard field goal late in the second quarter, and the 10-0 score held into halftime.
Any hope Avonworth had in the locker room was eliminated as the Leopards scored 16 points in the third quarter to take a 26-0 lead. Laux went in from one yard out with 4:58 to go in the third, and Dominic Ghilani recorded a safety on the next drive after Willie Schwerha鈥檚 punt pinned the Antelopes back at their own one-yard line.
With 2:16 to go in the third, Laux hit Jake Gedekoh with a 25-yard touchdown pass to close the scoring.
Laux finished with 155 yards passing and led the team with 53 yards rushing, 23 of them coming on a third-and-22 on the first quarter drive that ended with the Rathway field goal.
鈥淚t was tougher to repeat because we were expected now because of us doing it last year,鈥� Laux said. 鈥淓specially because we had so many guys coming back, there were high standards and high expectations. It gets better by practicing this week, playing again on Friday and hopefully moving forward.鈥�