Belle Vernon grinds out victory over Laurel Highlands

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 11, 2024 | 11:33 PM

Previous Next

A week after hitting big play after big play, the Belle Vernon Area football team showed it can be methodical if needed.

The Leopards didn’t hit as many big plays, but they steadily chewed up yardage on their way to a 47-10 win over Laurel Highlands in Big 6 Conference play.

Kole Doppelheuer carried 19 times for 169 yards with a rushing and receiving touchdown, and quarterback Curty Wade threw three TDs and scored another with his feet to lead the Leopards’ offense.

“This was a good, solid win,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said. “Was it as clean and crisp as we would like? No, but I think we’re trending in the right direction, and the kids are starting to build that confidence a little bit more from where it was in the first half of the season.”

As happy as Humbert was, he wasn’t a fan of the opening six minutes of the game.

The Mustangs had the better start, surprising the Leopards with a pooch kick they recovered in BVA territory.

Laurel Highlands used it to jump out to a 3-0 lead after a 36-yard field goal by Tanner Bruzda.

The drive featured a heavy dose of Mustangs running back Parker Hoff, who ran for more yards in that drive than he would for the rest of the game as he went on to finish with 35 yards on 19 carries.

“Hats off to LH because they did a great job eating up the clock,” Humbert said. “They ate up over six minutes of that first quarter and put some points on the board.”

Belle Vernon (3-3, 2-1) answered quickly. After recovering an onside-kick attempt, the Leopards marched 51 yards in five plays.

Wade hit Anthony Crews for a 24-yard strike to start the drive. After three runs by Doppelheuer, Wade hooked up with Deaubre Lightfoot on an 8-yard slant for a touchdown.

Wade went on to complete 7 of 12 passes for 111 yards.

“I thought Curty did a good job with his feet in the non-read-option game,” Humbert said. “He didn’t force anything and made great decisions with the ball.”

From the opening drives, the story of the game might have been the Leopards’ defense.

Cameren Jenko, Dom Ghilani and Jackson Alexander spent a lot of time in the LH backfield, combining for 19 tackles and six tackles for loss and blowing up the remainder of the Mustangs’ running game.

Laurel Highlands (4-3, 1-2) finished with a total of 74 yards of offense, 42 on the ground and 32 through the air.

“Like I’ve said before, the kids are learning their jobs. That combination on our defensive line is really good and continues to develop,” Humbert said.

The next Mustang drive fizzled out after the BVA defense starting getting penetration into the offensive backfield. They went on to attempt a 59-yard field goal that was short, but the kick made it to the end zone and couldn’t be returned. It was ruled a touchback.

Ten plays later, the Leopards wrapped up an 80-yard drive after riding Doppelheuer’s legs most of the way.

Doppelheuer had 50 yards in the drive. The series came to a thrilling end when Crews caught a swing pass on the right side, broke tackles and weaved his way back across the field and raced for a 40-yard touchdown.

“We kind of wanted to go back to the recipe that we had over the past three years,” Humbert said. “Now we have Deaubre (Lightfoot) back on the outside, so you have to account for him. We’re moving Crews into the backfield now, so you have him and Dopp is going outside, you have to pick him up. Crews showed tonight he has such play-making ability. He’s so explosive.”

The next Leopards drive ended with Wade scoring on a 12-yard run. It was the final score of the half, giving Belle Vernon a 21-3 lead at the half.

The LH offense went stagnant, picking up only one first down in the entire second half.

Crews busted loose for a 44-yard touchdown run right through the heart of the Mustang defense, and Doppelheuer added a 45-yard scoring jaunt that pushed the lead to 34-3 after three quarters of play.

“Dopp is the kind of kid that wants the ball on every down,” Humbert said. “I’d classify him as a sneaky runner. You think you have him bottled up, and then he turns into that elusive runner. Great speed and vision, he’s tough and aggressive. Just a lot of heart in that kid.”

Doppelheuer caught a perfectly thrown fade in the corner of the end zone from 14 yards out in the fourth quarter before the Leopards brought in the backups.

But they, too, made some noise as junior Nick Mahalko returned a Noah Lion interception 77 yards for a touchdown in the final minute.

Lion completed only 6 of 14 passes on the night for 32 yards with two interceptions.

Mustangs star Antwan Black returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown in the final seconds for Laurel Highlands’ first touchdown against the Leopards in over two years.

It was a game Black would like to forget offensively, however. He carried the ball only six times for 7 yards.

The Leopards outgained the Mustangs, 372 to 74.

“All these kids continue to learn. There’s a lot of mistakes, but there’s still a lot of positives, especially on our offensive line,” Humbert said. “I’ve said it since August. The key for us is growth. The growth model here has to keep trending up and staying positive.”

The Leopards travel to rival Ringgold next Friday.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Laurel Highlands