Belle Vernon routs West Mifflin as Hartman sets school TD record

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 11, 2019 | 10:51 PM

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Belle Vernon clinched a home playoff game and quarterback Jared Hartman set a single-season record for touchdown passes as the Leopards rolled past West Mifflin, 40-7, in a Big 8 conference showdown on Friday on “the Beach” at James Weir Stadium.

Hartman connected on a pair of touchdown passes, a 23-yarder to Devin Whitlock in the first half and a 17-yarder in the second half to Nolan Labuda.

The two scores give Hartman 17 touchdown passes, breaking the record held by Josh Cramer. Hartman also added a pair of rushing touchdowns for Belle Vernon (6-1, 5-1).

“It’s great to get the record, and I couldn’t do it without these guys right here,” Hartman said surrounded by his offensive line. “As nice as it is, this is a big win for us and I don’t want to do battle without anyone than this team and these guys protecting me.”

Hartman finished 8 of 15 for 112 yards and the two scores.

On the other side, West Mifflin started freshman Tayshawn McMillan, who had a tough assignment in his first start.

McMillan finished 6 of 14 for 123 yards with three interceptions, one of those returned 67 yards for a touchdown by Whitlock.

“Honestly, I thought we moved the ball pretty well,” West Mifflin coach Rod Steele said. “We just had too many mental breakdowns. A lot wasn’t (McMillan). It’s other guys not executing their assignments and too many dumb mistakes.”

Labuda stepped in front of a McMillan pass in the first quarter and returned it to the Titans 11. Three plays later, Hartman scored from 3 yards out.

The Titans answered on a fluke play to tie the game. After a snap on a fourth-down play from the BVA 3 got past McMillan and rolled back to the 23, Ni-keese Demery scooped it up and found Laronda Wilder standing all alone in the end zone for a touchdown pass.

“The funny thing is we were supposed to be in man coverage, but give that kid credit to have the gumption to look up and find that kid there,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said.

From there, it was all Belle Vernon.

The Leopards added 10 points in the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead into the half. Whitlock caught a perfect fade in the corner of the end zone, and Cam Guess added a 32-yard field goal in the final seconds.

The third quarter, the BVA defense continued to take advantage of Titan mistakes.

On the first play of the half, West Mifflin running back Jacob Davis had the ball ripped out of his arms by BVA’s Hunter Ruokonen. Dakota Marion recovered for the Leopards. Ruokonen added an interception in his first game back after suffering a dislocated elbow four weeks ago.

Six plays later, Hartman scored on a 1-yard dive and added the 2-point conversion to make it 25-7.

West Mifflin had another drive stopped, this time it was Whitlock stepping in front of Titans tight end Nakhi Johnson and returning an interception 67 yards for a score. He added another 2-pointer to make it 33-7.

“The thing with Devin is his mental capacity. He’s played quarterback, running back, in the slot. On defense he’s played corner, safety and tonight he played outside backer,” Humbert said. “He’s really grasped what we want to do quickly.”

Said Steele, “Belle Vernon’s a good football team. But I think from a physicality standpoint, we played with them. We didn’t execute, and it was our dumb mistakes that killed us tonight.”

The Leopards outgained the TItans, 247-210. But taking advantage of West Mifflin mistakes played into their favor.

“The irony of it is we prepared for their six and five-man fronts. So they came out in a 4-4. I think that’s one reason we weren’t as crisp,” Humbert said. “I’m really pleased with the way our defense played. They were physical, and this was a game where I think things really came together.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, West Mifflin