Belle Vernon finally gets big plays from offense, routs Chartiers Valley

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 4, 2024 | 11:40 PM

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Belle Vernon Area coach Matt Humbert acknowledged that, through the opening four games, one of the things missing from the offense was the big plays.

That was remedied Friday night.

The Leopards hit multiple big plays against Chartiers Valley, putting up 33 first-quarter points despite having the ball for less than two minutes.

The big plays were the story as the Leopards set a school record for points scored in a 68-21 Big 6 Conference win.

“We’re trying to get back to shades of how we work,” Humbert said. “What I mean by that is distributing the ball to everybody. We had some big pieces back in the lineup, and we were able to hit those plays.”

Belle Vernon (2-3, 1-1) needed only four plays to score the opening points on Kole Doppelheuer’s 47-yard touchdown run.

On the Colts’ opening possession, the Leopards defense forced a punt, and the snap was over the head of Pat Jurisic. Instead of taking the safety, Jurisic couldn’t recover it near the back of the end zone, where BVA’s Cameren Jenko fell on it for the touchdown.

“Any time you can have points early like that, it gives you a little bit of comfortability from an offensive standpoint,” Humbert said. “Our defense and our special teams put us in a really good position with that play.”

Another drive, another punt for the Colts turned into another quick score as Curty Wade took a QB keeper 40 yards for the score. Anthony Crews added a 2-point conversion to make it 20-0 with 5:31 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the next Leopards’ drive, it took only one play. Wade hit a streaking Deaubre Lightfoot down the seam for a 49-yard score as the offense took advantage of great field position again.

“We did a great job, and I think Preston (Rathway) is a big reason for that. He did a great job on the kickoffs pinning them deep or getting a touchback,” Humbert said. “We tackled well in coverage. When we had the ball, we didn’t get behind the sticks when we had that good field position.”

The fourth Colts’ drive led to another punt, and it was Lightfoot again with a 60-yard punt return for the final score of the opening 12 minutes.

“It’s so great having him back. He works hard and has great habits at practice. That’s great for us from a competition standpoint through the week,” Humbert said of the junior. “You can see how that pays off for us on Friday nights.”

The Colts (3-3, 1-1) finally got a drive going, thanks to some undisciplined play by the Leopards. They picked up their first first down of the game on an encroachment call on the defense. Two plays later, a late-hit penalty put the ball at the Leopards’ 11-yard line.

Three plays later, Tayshaun Lewis ran in from 10-yards on the opening play of the second quarter for the Colts’ only score of the half.

The Leopards committed 10 penalties for 91 yards in the first half and finished with 13 for 126 yards.

“I thought this was the best game our offensive line played this season,” Humbert said. “On the other side of things, the penalties were a little bit of a negative, especially the big ones. That’s something we’re going to have to correct.”

Any momentum swing was quickly put to rest, though, as, on the second play of the ensuing drive, Crews escaped around the right side for a 79-yard touchdown run to make it 40-7.

Another Colts punt followed, this time, the Leopards offense killed nearly five minutes before Wade found Crews for a 4-yard touchdown pass that made it 47-7.

Doppelheuer added a 39-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining before halftime. The senior back ended his night with 126 yards on 10 carries.

Doppelheuer started the second half with an interception to give his team great field position. Four plays, later Chace Petrosky scored on a 2-yard run.

With the Leopards playing a lot of their second-team personnel, the Colts were able to go on a 10-play, 63-yard drive that ended with Michael Lawrence’s 1-yard QB sneak.

Belle Vernon back-up quarterback Jace Gedekoh bobbled a snap that was recovered by CV’s Dylan Czarnecki and returned for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 60-21.

Gedekoh found instant redemption on the next drive, capping an eight-play series with a 6-yard touchdown to end the scoring.

“You know, I don’t know how good CV is or how good they aren’t,” Humbert said. “But overall, I think three losses back-to- back-to-back is kind of uncharted territory for these kids. They had to come out, and they had to respond. I’m happy they responded with the thoroughness that they did on every level.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Chartiers Valley