Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin, Matt Humbert earn state’s Class 3A player, coach of the year honors

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, December 28, 2023 | 2:00 PM

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Belle Vernon’s deja vu football season continued Thursday as the Leopards, who successfully defended their WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles, were again heavily recognized for postseason awards by the Pa. Football Writers.

Coach Matt Humbert was named the state’s Class 3A coach of the year for a second straight season, while senior running back Quinton Martin was tabbed the classification’s player of the year.

Humbert and Martin led the Leopards to a 13-1 record that included a 26-0 victory over Avonworth in WPIAL final and a dominating 38-7 triumph over Northwestern Lehigh in the PIAA title game.

Humbert has a 92-20 record in 10 seasons at Belle Vernon. The Leopards were WPIAL runners-up in 2020 and ‘21 before raising the trophy the past two seasons under his guidance.

Martin (6-3, 205), the No. 1-rated recruit in Pennsylvania who has signed with Penn State, was the leading rusher, receiver and scorer for Belle Vernon. The Trib Westmoreland Player of the Year and the Interstate Conference’s offensive player of the year rushed for 1,202 yards and caught 54 passes for 753 yards. He scored 28 touchdowns, one on a 92-yard run in the state finals.

Martin and senior defensive back Adam LaCarte were repeat selections to the all-state team, while senior teammate Braden Laux is a first-time honoree.

LaCarte (6-1, 200), a safety who was the Interstate Conference defensive player of the year, had 74 tackles, three interceptions and recovered two fumbles. He also caught six passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Laux (6-5, 215), who will play tight end at Eastern Michigan, had 48 tackles and four sacks as a defensive end. Offensively, he completed 120 of 181 passes for 1,733 yards and 19 touchdowns.

West Mifflin offensive lineman Rico Steele (6-4, 300), a Bowling Green commit who was the lineman of the year in the Western Hills Conference, and Avonworth athlete Andrew Kuban (5-11, 185), the Western Hills’ offensive MVP, also were named to the Class 3A all-state team. Kuban had 58 catches for 895 yards, ran 75 times for 663 yards and also had three interceptions on defense.

The all-state team was chosen by a statewide vote of sportswriters. The Class A, 2A and 3A teams were released Thursday. Class 4A, 5A and 6A will be revealed Friday.

2023 Pa. Football Writers’ Class 3A all-state team

Player of the Year: Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon

Coach of the Year: Matt Humbert, Belle Vernon

OFFENSE

Quarterback

Tyler Gee, Loyalsock – 6-0, 180 senior

Matt Machalik, Palmerton – 6-1, 195 senior

Madden Patrick, Danville – 6-0, 175 junior

Marcus Quaker, West Perry – 5-11, 170 senior

Hunter Hohman, Grove City – 5-10, 175 senior

Running back

Dalton Clymer, Northwestern Lehigh – 6-0, 190 senior

Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon – 6-2, 195 senior

Ethen Knox, Oil City – 6-1, 190 senior

Elijah Cunningham, Lancaster Catholic – 5-10, 200 senior

Wide receiver

Jaylen Andrews, Loyalsock – 6-3, 180 senior

Aaron Johnson, Danville – 5-10, 170 senior

Jack Dunn, Central Martinsburg – 6-3, 171 senior

Joey Wilkinson, Hanover – 5-11, 175 senior

Troy Dressler, Mifflinburg – 6-4, 200 senior

Tight end

Mason Semmel, Hamburg – 6-3, 220 senior

Offensive line

Justin Kutcher, Danville – 6-1, 265 senior

Ben Walters, Northwestern Lehigh – 6-0, 230 senior

Braden Ewing, Tyrone – 6-1, 265 senior

Henry Milford, Oil City – 6-1, 310 senior

Rico Steele, West Mifflin – 6-4, 300 senior

Athlete

Andrew Kuban, Avonworth – 5-11, 185 senior

Jamari Curlett, North East – 5-8, 155 senior

Joey Flail, North Schuylkill – 6-0, 190 senior

DEFENSE

Defensive line

Braden Laux, Belle Vernon – 6-5, 215 senior

Noah Rosahac, Jim Thorpe – 6-6, 275 senior

Bryer Reichard, Northwestern Lehigh – 6-5, 261 junior

Brodie Miller, Sharon – 6-2, 225 junior

Luke Lewis, Hickory – 6-0, 325 sophomore

Caleb Brewer, Wyomissing – 6-5, 275 senior

Linebacker

Ryker Jones, Wyomissing – 6-0, 190 senior

Logan Bastian, Loyalsock – 6-0, 185 senior

Cameron Kiersch, Danville – 6-1, 208 junior

Shane Hulmes, Northwestern Lehigh – 5-10, 194 sophomore

Andrew Summa, Scranton Prep – 5-10, 175 senior

Hunter Smith, Central Martinsburg – 6-2, 210 senior

Defensive back

Eli Zimmerman, Northwestern Lehigh – 5-7, 140 junior

Adam LaCarte, Belle Vernon – 6-1, 200 senior

Jadon Phillips, Hickory – 5-10, 165 freshman

Khari Reid, Neumann-Goretti – 6-0, 220 senior

Specialist

Lukas Jones, Hickory – 5-11, 180 senior

Athlete

Ian Goodling, West Perry – 6-1, 175 senior

Bo Sheptock, Danville – 5-10, 170 junior

Gavin Harrold, Penn Cambria – 5-11, 180 junior

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Avonworth, Belle Vernon, West Mifflin