Belle Vernon gets strong game from offense, defense in win over Greensburg Salem

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 22, 2017 | 11:00 PM

Following a slim victory over Ringgold last week, Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert wanted his team to come out with a better offensive effort Friday.

The Leopards did that and more.

Jared Hartman finished with four touchdowns — two rushing and two passing — and the Leopards defense held Greensburg Salem to just one first quarter score as No. 3 Belle Vernon Area topped the Golden Lions, 34-7, Friday in a Class 4A Big Nine Conference game at James Weir Stadium.

“We had to do a little soul searching, and we had to be productive offensively,” Humbert said. “Ironically, we are 4-0, and we are probably extremely tough on the kids. But I just feel like we have the capability of being pretty special this year, and the thing that was preventing us from taking that next step was the offensive inconsistency.

“I'm proud that the guys came out and responded, and I'm proud we were able to sustain drives and put points on the board.”

Greensburg Salem kicked off the scoring on its opening nine play, 80-yard drive.

The drive was capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by Aaren Putt that made it 7-0 in favor of the Golden Lions. Greensburg Salem received a big blow to its offensive line as starting center Jake Wineman went down with an injury on the second series of the game.

The loss of the senior impacted the play of the Golden Lions offense.

“We didn't protect our quarterback the way we needed to,” Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer said. “We had opportunities offensively, but we just didn't take advantage of them when we needed to. Three or four drives after that were good drives, but we just didn't finish the drives.”

Despite Greensburg Salem (2-3, 2-2) taking the early advantage, it didn't take long for the Leopards to respond.

In the next three and a half minutes, BV scored a pair of touchdowns on scoring passes of1 and 27 yards from Hartman to Anthony Bertram and Logan Pfrogner, respectively.

Hartman completed 9 of 18 for 137 yards and ran for 81 yards on 13 carries.

Pfrogner was Hartman's top target, finishing with 116 yards on seven catches.

“That was the nice thing to go up 14-7 like that,” Humbert said. “It gave the kids some confidence. I don't really waver. I think our kids are resilient and confident, but at the same time, it was just nice for us to be able to answer.”

The Leopards (4-0, 4-0) added onto their lead in the second quarter as they capped an 11-play, 60 yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Dylan Haney that made it 21-7.

“I thought we did a good job on the first drive,” Keefer said. “We drove down. We put the ball in the end zone like we wanted to and then we gave them good field position. We have to play good defense in that situation.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Golden Lions gained momentum in the fourth, using a nine-play drive to get into scoring position.

However, they were unable to convert on fourth down at BVA's 12-yard line. Greensburg Salem's next two drives resulted in a fumble and an interception by Belle Vernon's Jake Fine.

Both turnovers resulted in Hartman touchdown runs of 11 yards and 1 yard that sealed the win.

“I think I would be remiss not to say something about Jake Fine. He's a guy that battled through all summer, won the starting position and has had some really bad luck,” Humbert said. “He has had a couple bad breaks the past three weeks, so to see him get that pick was just icing on the cake because the kid deserves it.”

BVA finished with 372 total yards, and the Golden Lions finished with 234 yards.

Greensburg Salem's Jacob Hoyle completed 12 of 22 passes for 116 yards

Derek Cesovski led the Leopards running attack with 89 yards on 10 carries.

“We're feeling good, but we realize the road doesn't get easier though,” Humbert said. “We really have to buckle down, limit our mistakes, quit making self-inflicting wounds and, like I said, I am just proud of the way the kids responded.”

Jose Negron is a freelance writer.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Greensburg Salem