Westmoreland football notebook: Penn State coaches come to watch Belle Vernon’s Martin

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 16, 2021 | 2:43 PM

Belle Vernon had a couple of special guests on campus Friday.

For the second week in a row, major college football coaches stopped by to check in on standout Quinton Martin, the coveted sophomore recruit who began collecting Division I offers as a freshman.

Penn State coach James Franklin and assistant, Terry Smith, the former Gateway coach, made a visit to the school.

“It was great to see those guys come down,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “That is the first time Penn State has been here since I’ve been coach. We’re fortunate that we get a good amount of traction with Division I schools stopping by.”

Humbert said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was at Belle Vernon last week.

As for Martin’s health — he injured his left knee midway through the third quarter in a Week 4 win over Thomas Jefferson — the 6-foot-3, 180-pound running back and defensive back is “ready to roll.”

“In two weeks of practice, he’s looking 100%,” Humbert said. “We’ll use him in the same capacity as before.”

In Friday’s 49-0 win over Trinity, Martin ran eight times for 181 yards and two touchdowns and caught two TD passes.

He has rushed for 531 yards and has two kickoff-return scores of 94 and 87 yards.

The Leopards (7-0, 5-0), ranked No. 1 in WPIAL Class 4A, will have a little more recovery time next week. They have a rare bye week.

An spot opened on the schedule when Uniontown opted to play an independent schedule.

King Football

Norwin senior quarterback Luke Levensonky didn’t get a win Friday against Class 6A No. 1 and unbeaten Mt. Lebanon, but he made a memory at halftime.

Levedonsky was named homecoming king.

Another Norwin athlete, cross country runner Maddie Butina, was picked as the queen.

Nate the Great

Penn-Trafford senior kicker Nathan Schlessinger continued to show his leg strength with his sixth field goal of the season in Friday’s 45-6 win at Connellsville.

His latest was from 48 yards to break the Penn-Trafford record for the longest field goal set by Matt Loughnane in 2012 at Hempfield. Loughnane hit from 44 yards.

Greensburg Central Catholic kicker Ryan Reitler made two field goals, from 26 and 39 yards, as the No. 4 Centurions played top-ranked Clairton close Friday in a 20-13 loss in the Eastern A.

GCC had two interceptions and trailed just 12-10 heading to the fourth.

Game cut short

The Yough at Valley nonconference game was stopped early in the second half Friday because of chippiness between the teams. The Yough bus reportedly had a police escort out of the New Kensington campus.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Yough