Belle Vernon shrugs off early deficit, rolls past rival Ringgold

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 17, 2025 | 11:31 PM

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The Mon River rivalry matchup between Ringgold and Belle Vernon started off with a bang for the visiting Rams on Friday on The Beach at James Weir Stadium.

The Rams opened the game by recovering an onside kick and immediately turned it into a touchdown. Ringgold receiver Demetri Lowe made a great diving catch in the end zone to give the visitors an early 6-0 lead.

Leopards linebacker David Bergstedt blocked the PAT, which ended up being a sign of things to come for the Rams.

Belle Vernon went on to score on every one of its possessions the rest of the way, scoring 48 unanswered points to roll to a 48-6 Big 6 rivalry win over its cross-river rivals.

“I just told the guys how proud of them I am. This was such a big game for them, getting a win at home and getting to ring the bell. That’s special for them,” Belle Vernon coach Scott Bryer said. “Our defense was outstanding. We had big takeaways, and even without Cam (Jenko), I thought our lines on both sides of the ball were fantastic.”

On their first true possession, the Leopards (3-5, 2-2) settled for a Preston Rathway 34-yard field goal.

Belle Vernon’s Curty Wade intercepted a Dennis Hawkins pass on the next Ringgold possession, then called his own number less than two minutes later on a 10-yard run that made it 10-6.

Wade had a great day on the offensive side of the ball, completing 7 of 13 passes for 110 yards and a score and rushing 12 times for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“Curty did what Curty does,” Bryer said. “I thought he made some great decisions with the ball. And Chace (Petrosky), he’s so shifty and has really been running hard over the past few weeks.”

Petrosky, the program record holder for yards in a single game after a 339-yard performance a couple of weeks ago, carried the rock 16 times for 142 yards and a pair of scores.

His 8-yard touchdown with 8:14 to go in the first half gave the Leopards a 16-6 advantage.

Meanwhile, the Rams offense just never found a rhythm and was stagnant most of the night.

“I thought we could really hit some things, especially to the outside with Jenko out,” Rams coach Bean Heller said. “Just undisciplined football. I can tell you, I wasn’t expecting a game like this, that’s for sure. We talked with our mouths tonight and not our pads.”

The Belle Vernon defensive line made it easy for linebackers David Bergstedt and Vander Raczkowski to shoot gaps and impact the Rams’ backfield.

“It’s funny because we’re sitting there looking at each other like, ‘Why did we wait so long to get Vander more snaps defensively?’” Bryer said with a laugh. “Those two at linebacker were a handful tonight. They played great. I thought our defensive backs did a great job on their receivers. They have a ton of talent on the outside and can really be explosive.”

The Leopards connected again before the half when Luca Ghilani caught an 8-yard out pattern and turned it into a 22-yard touchdown run after a missed tackle.

That gave Belle Vernon a 23-6 advantage at the half.

In the second half, it was more of the same. Rams quarterback Hawkins fumbled the ball away, which Bergstedt recovered for the Leps.

The bright side for the Rams was they stopped the Belle Vernon offense, but Rathway was able to hit a 46-yard field goal just above the crossbar to extend the lead.

The Rams (4-5, 1-3) got the ball up the field a little, thanks to some undisciplined penalties on the Belle Vernon defense. But after 30 yards in penalty yardage helped get them to the Belle Vernon 39, Ward fumbled it away again with Caleb Horner recovering it for the Leopards.

“I’m not one to complain about officials, but I thought (Ward) was down when that ball came out. They huddled and said it was a fumble,” Heller said. “Still, you can’t fumble the ball away and have so many penalties. That team over there, they’re tough. There’s still a culture of winning here. It’s obvious. That’s a tough football team and Coach Bryer is doing a great job.”

After the Ward fumble, Petrosky ripped off a 43-yard run, with 15 yards courtesy of a Lowe personal foul tacked on. Wade ran in his second touchdown from 15 yards out on the next play and tacked on the 2-point conversion for good measure.

After another Rams fumble late in the third, Petrosky scored on a 21-yard run to put the icing on the rivalry cake and invoke the running clock.

The Leopards got a late touchdown run from Raczkowski in the fourth quarter to end the scoring.

“They were tougher than us. That’s what it came down to,” Heller said matter-of-factly. “I knew watching the film and knowing the schedule that team played, this was by far the most physical game we played all season. I knew it would be.

“But you know, you’re trying to rebuild this thing, you’re going to take your lumps. We went from not winning a game before I got here to two wins last year, now four this year. It’s a long process. It sucks because I’m a competitor. Tonight, we made silly mistakes and we paid for it.”

The teams combined for more than 200 yards in penalties like rivals sometimes do. The Leopards had 13 flags for 111 yards and the Rams committed 14 penalties for 125 yards.

Ringgold back Amoni Ward had a tough night running the ball, finishing with 19 carries for 62 yards. Of those, 32 came late in the fourth quarter with the game decided.

The Rams will turn their attention to their season finale next week at home against Chartiers Valley.

Belle Vernon will host Trinity next week with a slim possibility that a win could get them a wild-card berth into the playoffs.

“It’s a shame that we dug such a big hole for ourselves,” Bryer said. “It feels really good to see these guys get this win here at home. Now, we have to prepare for a Trinity team that’s going to be another one of those tough games.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Ringgold