Quinton Martin’s 3 touchdowns lead Belle Vernon past Laurel Highlands

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, September 2, 2022 | 11:48 PM

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With Penn State coach James Franklin in attendance for the first half, Quinton Martin ripped off three touchdown runs to help push Belle Vernon to a 41-20 win over visiting Laurel Highlands on “The Beach” at James Weir Stadium.

The three touchdowns gave the Leopards’ a 21-0 halftime lead as the defense held the Mustangs to only 12 yards of offense in the opening 24 minutes. That stat included a goal-line stand from the 1-yard line when the Mustangs appeared to be on their way to cutting into the lead.

“That fourth down stop was huge,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said. “It was all about us putting things together and being successful at what we wanted to do.

“The negatives of this game, it was all us. It was us shooting ourselves in the foot over and over.”

A lot of the Leopards’ self-inflicted wounds came in the form of yellow flags. The Leopards committed 16 penalties for 155 yards.

“I mean, we were up 21-0, and honestly, I think we took three touchdowns off the board,” Humbert said. “And we’ll be hard on them and critical, but when it comes down to it, we had subs in all four of our rotations and got good contributions from guys out there that if Q is in the game, or (Jake) Gedekoh is in the game, they probably don’t see those touches.”

The Leopards lost a number of players intermittently and for extended time due to cramping, including Martin, Alonzo Wade. And Gedekoh went down with an apparent arm injury.

“They have to put some of that on themselves, not getting the fuel they need throughout the week, throughout the day. Cramping can’t be an issue for us going forward. We need to correct it,” Humbert said. “But all of the things we did wrong or had bad outcomes for us, they’re all correctable.”

After three straight CJ Soltis incompletions for the Mustangs on the opening drive, the Leopards didn’t need to go far after LH punter Harry Radcliffe fumbled the snap.

The Leopards needed only two plays, the second a 23-yard touchdown run for Martin.

“Any time you have that field position, it’s an advantage. And Q taking his first touch, it doesn’t get better than that to put us up early,” Humbert said.

Martin added two more touchdown runs, 9 and 8 yards in the first half.

He finished the game with only 10 carries for 53 yards and the three TDs.

The Leopards made it 28-0 on their opening possession of the second half as Tanner Moody followed a punishing run by Jake Gedekoh with a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Mustangs got on the board with 3:48 remaining in the third when Rodney Gallagher capped off a six-play, 52-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown to Keondre Deshields on a fourth-and-12.

Gallagher showed why LH head coach Rich Kolesar made the move to put him back under center in the first half, slicing through a number of Leopards’ tacklers before throwing up the jump ball to Deshields.

Belle Vernon (1-0) answered with a 12-play, 57-yard drive with Tanner Steeber under center after getting the start in the second half.

Steeber connected with Chase Ruokonen on a 23-yard reception and later found Evan Pohlot for 14 yards on the drive. He finished 6 of 7 passing for 57 yards.

Braden Laux, the Leopards’ 6-5 quarterback, entered to cap off the drive with a 1-yard plunge that made it 34-6.

Laux, who got the start and played the entire first half, was 8 of 14 for 86 yards. He added 10 carries for 61 yards with a late touchdown.

“Both of those kids are starters,” Humbert said of his quarterbacks. “It’s really going to depend on the flow of the game. You have a kid like Braden, who comes to you before a fourth-and-1, and knows he can make it. It’s tough on a defense to stop 6-5 and 230 pounds, no matter how well you defend it.”

Gallagher and Deshields made things interesting against the Leopards’ second defensive unit, who were in the game because of the cramping issues.”

The pair connected for a quick three-play drive, using a 69-yard hookup to set up Deshields’ 3-yard touchdown catch that made it 34-13.

After forcing a Leopards’ punt, the pair struck again with just under four minutes remaining. Deshields made a highlight-reel catch on a 29-yard pass from Gallagher.

“Let me start by saying, Deaubre Lightfoot is going to be a hell of a cornerback. He’s a freshman and doesn’t play like it,” Humbert said. “But give LH credit, they scanned the field and found the matchup. Deaubre covered him great, but Deshields has almost two feet when you take into account how high the kid can jump.

“They made it really interesting there late.”

Gallagher finished the game 14 of 18 for 205 yards and the three touchdowns after taking over at quarterback in the second quarter.

Deshields caught 10 balls for 180 yards.

After Adam LaCarte recovered Radcliffe’s onside-kick attempt, Laux put the final nail in the Mustangs’ coffin with a 44-yard touchdown run, right after converting a fourth-and-1 on a sneak.

“We have a lot to work on. I chalk a lot of this up to those Week 1 things,” Humbert said. “LH blitzed us a lot, and with three guys new to that line, it showed a bit. But we saw a lot of positive things from the quarterbacks, guys like Kole Doppelheuer and Anthony Crews. They made some good plays and it was nice to see them make positive yards when they had their opportunity.”

Things don’t get easier on the Leopards next week as they head to McKeesport for another nonconference showdown.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Laurel Highlands