Belle Vernon rolls over Deer Lakes into WPIAL Class 3A semifinals

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, November 10, 2023 | 10:26 PM

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Belle Vernon quarterback Braden Laux threw three first-half touchdown passes — two to Quinton Martin — to help lead the top-seeded Leopards to a 49-6 WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal win over No. 8 Deer Lakes on The Beach at James Weir Stadium.

Laux connected with Anthony Crews on a 21-yard touchdown pass, then hit Martin for strikes of 12 and 30 yards.

“We basically just stuck to what we like to do on offense,” Laux said. “We like to get the ball out on the perimeter on those bubble screens and get our guys in the open field, then we can take our shots.”

The Belle Vernon defense slowed down a Deer Lakes offense that put up 48 points on Southmoreland in its first-round win.

The Lancers (8-4) picked up six first downs, but only one of those came via their offense. The other five were from Leopards’ penalties.

“There’s a lot of stuff there we need to clean up,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said. “That’s stuff we can’t allow to go on. Those penalties on Quinton with the pass interference, I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. But we have to put ourselves in better spots.”

The Leopards (10-1) struck first on a 40-yard touchdown run by Kole Doppelheuer on their second possession then increased their lead on Crews’ leaping 21-yard touchdown catch on the next possession.

Preston Rathway added a 33-yard field goal to give the Leopards a 17-0 lead after the first quarter.

“We talked about striking quick. We wanted to be methodical in what we do, and we were. What stopped us was ourselves and the penalties,” Humbert said.

The Leopards extended their lead to 24-0 on Laux’s 12-yard touchdown to Martin. The Eastern Michigan recruit finished the game 15 of 18 for 226 yards and the three scores.

“We have so many weapons to play with,” Laux said. “It’s nice as a quarterback, and an opposing defense can’t just pick someone out that they want to stop.”

The Lancers picked up their only touchdown on Derek Burk’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Fletcher on the ensuing drive.

It was Burk’s only completion in nine attempts. He left the game on the next Lancers drive with an apparent head injury and did not return.

“Our goal was to not let him sting us. He got us with the one long pass, but we wanted our defense, especially the linebackers and secondary, to be ultra-aggressive out there,” Humbert said.

The Leopards made it 30-6 at the half on Martin’s 30-yard catch and run with 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Martin finished with nine catches for 105 yards and the two scores and also ran for 107 yards.

With Burk not returning, the Leopards pinned their ears back and focused on the run game in the second half. Lancers running back Zier Williams was a nonfactor, finishing with 26 yards on 15 carries.

Jake Fleischer came in for Burk and completed 1 of 7 pass attempts for minus-2 yards.

“This was a good bounce-back game for our secondary after that Elizabeth Forward game,” Humbert said. “They challenged themselves after allowing some big plays in the passing game. They were fantastic against a really good passing team tonight.”

On the first Leopards drive of the second half, Crews hit the end zone again with a 31-yard run on a jet sweep. Two plays later, Crews intercepted Fleischer.

Martin scored on a 32-yard touchdown run immediately after having a touchdown called back by a holding penalty.

The score invoked the running clock by pushing the lead to 42-6.

One final score for the Leopards came on the second play of the fourth quarter as Doppelheuer took a fourth-and-13 run 35 yards for the final touchdown.

The junior enjoyed his first game over the century mark, finishing with 101 yards on 10 carries.

The Leopards defense allowed the Lancers 70 total yards, with 45 coming on the scoring play. Deer Lakes finished with 27 yards rushing.

“We weren’t perfect, but we made some adjustments and regrouped at halftime,” Humbert said. “The goal in the second half was to come out and kind of impose our will on them for the final 24 minutes. We did that, now we’re on to the next one.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Deer Lakes