Leopards advance to WPIAL title game with 42-0 victory
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Quinton Martin (25) breaks tackles on his way to the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter of Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway. Martin also ran for a touchdown in the Leopards鈥� 42-0 victory.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon quarterback Braden Laux runs through the Freeport defense in the first quarter of Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Freeport鈥檚 Cyprian Selinger trips up Belle Vernon鈥檚 Jake Gedekoh in the second quarter of Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway. Gedekoh ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the Leopards鈥� 42-0 victory.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Chase Ruokonen turns upfield after catching a pass from quarterback Braden Laux in the second quarter of Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal playoff game against Freeport at Gateway.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Belle Vernon鈥檚 Quinton Martin is all by himself after catching a pass from quarterback Braden Laux in the first quarter of Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal playoff game against Freeport at Gateway.
MONROEVILLE 鈥� Lao Tzu famously said, 鈥淭he journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.鈥�
Belle Vernon head football coach Matt Humbert impressed on his team after the WPIAL Class AAA semifinal at Gateway their journey begins now, and the first step comes on the heels of the Leopards鈥� 42-0 victory over fourth-seeded Freeport.
Belle Vernon (9-2) advances to its sixth WPIAL title game, second in a row and third in the past four years. The Leopards face Avonworth on Friday at Acrisure Stadium with a 5 p.m. kickoff. The second-seeded Antelopes (11-1) downed Shady Side Academy, 35-0.
Belle Vernon won the district crown in 1995.
The journey most likely won鈥檛 cover 1,000 miles, but Leopards will likely travel a few hundred in their quest to not only win a WPIAL title, but play two mores game on their way to a PIAA crown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun. We鈥檒l enjoy this, but the end of the day it鈥檚 all for nothing if we can鈥檛 go out Friday and execute,鈥� said Humbert. 鈥淣ext week starts now. They earned their right to the actual season beginning. In my mind, the season truly starts now and they have to come out with a little different of a mindset.
鈥淚 love where our kids鈥� heads are and our coaches really do a good job of putting them where they need to be in terms of their mental aptitude and how they handle things. The switch needs to go off.鈥�
Quarterback Braden Laux received and understood the post-game message.
鈥淥ur goal for the past three years was to make it to Heinz (the WPIAL championship), but not to win Heinz. Now our goal is to win Heinz and complete it,鈥� said Laux.
Belle Vernon looked like it was going to make the semifinal a laugher with touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game.
Laux capped a 9-play, 80-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. He broke a tackle around the 10-yard line for the opening score at 8:23.
The lead doubled around five minutes later when Laux hit Quinton Martin in the flat and running back did the rest, breaking several tackles on his way to a 45-yard touchdown reception.
The advantage grew to 21-0 early in the second quarter on Martin鈥檚 26-yard touchdown run. The Leopards converted two third downs and a fourth-and-1 in the 10-play drive The score was set up by an interception by Adam LaCarte.
The Yellowjackets had a huge opportunity to get back into the game early in the third quarter, but were unable to take advantage of a blocked punt.
Starting at the Belle Vernon 34-yard line, Freeport worked its way to the 20 and appeared to have a touchdown pass. However, the Yellowjackets were called for a false start before the play. The drive stalled after a sack by the Leopards鈥� Steve Macheska and Freeport coach John Gaillot opted for a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Isaac Wetzel鈥檚 kick fell well short of the goalpost.
Freeport had another chance to slice into its deficit after holding strong on a fourth-and-4 deep in Belle Vernon territory. This time the drive stalled when Martin intercepted a fourth down pass inside the 10-yard line.
Belle Vernon was able to finally find the end zone again early in the fourth quarter.
Jake Gedekoh capped the 7-play drive, aided by a personal foul, with an 11-yard run into the end zone with 11:50 left in the game.
Laux plowed into the end zone from the one-yard line with 6:53 to go, and Gedekoh scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 20-yard run with 3:15 remaining.
Gedekoh ran for 123 yards. Martin rushed for 78 yards and caught six passes for 89 yards.
鈥淲e just wanted to be multiple on offense. We wanted to distribute the ball around. We wanted to be able to get the ball to Quinton, to Gedekoh. We wanted Braden (Laux) to obviously do what he needed to do,鈥� said Humbert. 鈥淲e wanted to try to be aggressive. We didn鈥檛 hit too many vertical passes.鈥�
鈥淲e had a lot of positives, but there were some negatives,鈥� continued Humbert. 鈥淲e had around a quarter-and-a-half with a lull.
鈥淟isten, that鈥檚 a credit to Freeport. I鈥檝e never seen a team jump around and do more defensively than what they did. It was literally a guessing game trying to figure out what they were doing and where they were lining up.鈥�
Humbert said his squad was able to return to what it was doing in the first quarter and what they do best.
鈥淎fter halftime, we had to get back, try not to be too fancy and get back to the meat and potatoes. And, when we did that, it kind of worked out,鈥� said Humbert. 鈥淥ne neat thing about our team is it just happens. The grinding will eventually go and that fourth quarter we were able to squeak out a couple scores.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more of us trying to acclimate what they were doing to us. I think after halftime our linemen were able to figure out what they were doing, and we were able to have success.鈥�
Laux completed 10-of-16 passes for 139 yards. The Leopards didn鈥檛 turn the ball over despite temperatures in the 20s.
鈥淭he cold didn鈥檛 change what we wanted to do. Not at all, and that鈥檚 a credit to No. 14 (Laux). I really don鈥檛 have to worry about him,鈥� said Humbert. 鈥淚 told them this week you have to be the team this type of nuanced stuff doesn鈥檛 affect. We said it all week. They have to be the cold team.
鈥淟ast week they did a phenomenal job on how crazy it was pouring and never making it an issue.鈥�
鈥淥nce you start playing, it鈥檚 like a regular game,鈥� added Laux.
The Freeport offense was held under 130 total yards and quarterback Gavin Croney completed more passes to Belle Vernon (4) than to the Yellowjackets (3).
鈥淲hat can you say about our defense?鈥� praised Humbert. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e done what they鈥檝e done all year. I鈥檓 not going to over-glorify the defense because that鈥檚 who they are. We鈥檙e fast, we鈥檙e aggressive, we鈥檙e well-coached.
鈥淲e had to be physical and aggressive at the point of attack. The thing about Freeport, they are an undersized team, so we knew physically we should be okay. But, the key is they鈥檙e not very big, but they鈥檙e quick. It was just a matter we had to make sure we could get hands on them.鈥�