Whitlock, Martin lead Belle Vernon to Big 8 Conference title by beating McKeesport

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 29, 2021 | 10:48 PM

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Belle Vernon didn’t wear masks with the likeness of Michael Myers, but the Leopards handed out nightmares for McKeesport Friday night.

Devin Whitlock accounted for four first-half touchdowns as the Leopards rolled to a 46-14 win to claim the Big 8 Conference championship and will likely be the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoff bracket.

Whitlock returned a punt 70 yards for a score, threw two touchdown passes and ran for a 58-yard touchdown, all in the first half to leave the Tigers and their faithful stunned.

His backfield colleague, Quinton Martin, added to the Tigers’ bad dream with 206 yards on 13 carries and a pair of long touchdown runs. He also intercepted a pass.

“We came in with the mindset that they weren’t ready for us,” Martin said. “We were confident they couldn’t match up with us physically up front.

“Our line needs to get more credit for what we do. We score, but we couldn’t do that without those guys up there making the holes and blocks. They’re amazing at their jobs.”

McKeesport coach Matt Miller said his team didn’t come out and perform the way they needed to, but credited the Leopards and their home-run hitters.

“Can’t take anything away from them. They earned it,” Miller said. “And those two guys (Whitlock and Martin), it’s like you have to have five on one and six on the other. They’re electric.”

The Leopards set a tone early, delivering some big hits and stuffing the Tigers (8-2, 5-1) on their opening drive.

“We wanted to hit over and over. That was my job on the dive, even if they didn’t give (Bobbie Boyd) the ball, or if it was the quarterback, I had to hit him again and again,” BVA senior lineman Tommy Kovatch said.

After the Tigers were stopped on that first drive, they made the mistake of punting to Whitlock, who followed his blockers straight through the Tigers’ coverage for the score.

“We put ourselves behind the stick and just had way too many penalties and big penalties,” Miller said. “We didn’t play assignment football. In a big game like this, you can’t play like the way we did.”

After another defensive stand for the Leopards, it didn’t take Martin long to put his team up two scores, racing around the left end for a 59-yard score, helping push the Leopards to a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

McKeesport got behind the sticks again after a holding penalty wiped out a 45-yard run by Kanye Thompson. That led to another punt from inside their own 5.

The Leopards took over at the Tigers’ 31, and Whitlock capped the drive by lofting a 16-yard pass to a leaping Chase Ruokonen. The PAT made it 20-0.

“Honestly, I looked up and I thought we had it after that first touchdown,” Kovatch said. “We knew we were more physical. After halftime, it looked like the quarterback didn’t even want to come back out. We just beat them up.”

The Leopards’ defense picked up its second takeaway as senior linebacker Reiley Wiant recovered a Caleb Reist fumble, setting up one of the highlight-reel plays of the season.

Whitlock took a snap, rolled right, sprinted back left, dodged a tackle before heading back to his left. He spotted Jake Gedekoh and hit him for a 43-yard catch and run touchdown.

“I sprinted right and saw Cole (Weightman’s) route was a little mucked up, so I went back left to get some time,” Whitlock said. “Jake did a great job of sitting in that open spot and just waiting for me.”

Whitlock finished the game 4 of 6 passing for 81 yards and the two scores.

McKeesport finally got on the board on the ensuing drive as Boyd was able to break free for a 25-yard touchdown run to make it 26-7.

“He’s a tough kid,” Miller said of his fullback. “He was never going to quit and still got his yards. They were tough yards tonight, though.”

Boyd finished with 23 carries for 104 yards.

The Leopards’ offense didn’t wait long to answer as Whitlock took off for a 58-yard touchdown on the second play of the drive. The play was originally called back after the referee threw the flag for a potential hurdle, before picking it up. The 2-point attempt was no good and BVA carried a 32-7 lead into the half.

“I wasn’t really comfortable even with that lead at the half,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “One slip and they can score quick. I wanted to make sure our guys knew that and came out harder in the second half.”

The teams exchanged possessions to open the half before the Leopards struck on their second drive.

Whitlock capped off a six-play drive with a 3-yard run to make it 39-7.

Whitlock carried 10 times for 100 yards and two scores.

The Tigers went three-and-out but Boyd got his team on the board again with a defensive score, scooping up a Whitlock fumble and scoring from 8 yards.

It was too little, too late, as Martin sealed the game with a 64-yard run with 5:20 remaining.

Humbert raved of his defense’s performance, led by eight tackles each by Weightman, Gedekoh and Logan Hoffman.

“The biggest thing is, we shut our mouths this week and had faith in our gameplan,” Humbert said. “I’m so proud of these 13 seniors, who showed a lot of maturity and kept that business-like mentality. There was a lot of chirping and talk leading into this game, and we didn’t engage in that stuff. We handled it on the field.”

The WPIAL will announce the playoff field tonight at 6 p.m.

Tags: Belle Vernon, McKeesport