Belle Vernon runs away from Ringgold, positions itself for shot at 2nd in Big 6

By: Liam Belan
Friday, October 18, 2024 | 11:41 PM

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Belle Vernon entered Friday’s contest at Ringgold looking to stay in contention for a second-place finish in the Big 6 Conference, and it took care of business in a dominant 49-7 showing.

The Leopards (4-3, 3-1) now have won three straight games and set up a game next week at Trinity (4-5, 3-1) with an automatic playoff spot at stake. The loser of that matchup could collect one of the two newly instated wild-card slots to make the district postseason, but they won’t want to leave it up to chance.

Belle Vernon had a mixed offensive attack against the Rams (1-8, 0-4), gashing them on the ground when it wanted while letting Curty Wade air it out when he got the chance.

“We wanted to be balanced on the offensive side of the ball,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “We didn’t wanna throw the ball too much because they were doing some unique things with keeping three guys deep, so we didn’t want to kind of chuck the ball up and step out of that comfort zone. We wanted to be multiple with the perimeter game and the inside run game, and I thought Curty was able to execute that well.”

Wade was a perfect 10 for 10 with 233 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Kole Doppelheuer carried the load in the ground game, taking 12 carries for 146 yards and a score, and Alonzo Wade scored twice on the ground.

Anthony Crews was Curty Wade’s favorite target, catching four passes for 118 yards and two scores, and Deaubre Lightfoot had two receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown as well as an interception on defense.

For Ringgold, a tumultuous week made things even more difficult against a strong opponent. After having last Friday’s contest against Thomas Jefferson postponed because of investigations into alleged misconduct from the team by the school district police and the Washington County DA Office, no criminal charges were filed, and the Rams found “alleged incidents of misconduct” involving team members, according to a district statement.

The team resumed activity this week, but there was ground that was lost in the preparation for this contest.

“I’m so proud of these guys. I say it all the time,” first-year Ringgold coach Robert “Bean” Heller said. “These guys continue to fight. We’re rocking with a lot of young guys. We started five freshmen on defense tonight because of injuries and other things, but they keep fighting.”

Belle Vernon wasted no time getting on the board, scoring on their first offensive play as Curty Wade connected with Crews for his first touchdown of the night, a 22-yarder to quickly make it 7-0.

The ensuing kickoff was an onside attempt, and it was recovered by the Leopards to retain possession. They went on another long drive before they made one of their only mistakes of the first half as Doppelheuer fumbled possession away on the Ringgold 7.

The Rams immediately made the Leopards pay as they started on their own 17. Ty Anderson threw a screen to Demetri Lowe, and he wiggled his way through traffic to break free and beat everyone to the end zone for an 83-yard reply to make it 7-7. Lowe led the Rams with four receptions for 111 yards and the score.

However, it was all Belle Vernon from then on.

Crews struck again with a 41-yard touchdown as 4:39 remained in the first quarter, but the Leopards managed two more touchdowns in the opening quarter to take a resounding 28-7 lead. Doppelheuer got his first score from a yard with 2:53 left before Lightfoot seemingly took a pass intended for Doppelheuer and took it for a 53-yard score.

Alonzo Wade came up with two short touchdown runs in the second quarter to bring the halftime score to 42-7. He scored on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard that were set up by Ringgold turnovers.

Chace Petrosky took the majority of the carries for the Leopards in the second half, and he found paydirt with 6:28 to play in the third quarter to end the scoring at 49-7 as both squads traded possession until the end of the contest.

Moving forward, Humbert said the Leopards will treat next week’s contest at Trinity like it’s already the postseason.

“We’re gonna treat it like an old fashioned playoff week,” he said. “We’ll be all hands on deck because Trinity’s a good football team. Their quarterback (Jonah Williamson) is really talented.

“They have three really stout kids up front, and the crazy thing is that two of them are freshmen. (Freshman Matt Richards) is one of the best nose tackles we’ve seen on film this year, so it’s gonna be a big challenge for us because they’re a good football team and they’re well coached.”

As for Heller and the Rams, they’ll be searching for a win against Chartiers Valley next week.

“We go into every game thinking we can win, and next week will be no different,” Heller said. “Let’s go end the year out with a win. It’ll be senior night, and what better way to send them off than with a W.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Ringgold