Defending champ Belle Vernon leaves no doubt with shutout at Laurel Highlands

By: Jose Negron
Friday, September 1, 2023 | 11:11 PM

Defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champion Belle Vernon earned a convincing road win to begin its title defenses Friday night.

Penn State recruit Quinton Martin finished with four touchdowns, and Belle Vernon’s tenacious defense refused to allow a score in a 40-0 victory over Laurel Highlands in nonconference action.

“The past two weeks, we’ve been in scrimmage mode, so it was nice to come out here, get some live ammunition and be able to fire it,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said. “We were champing at the bit to put everything together.”

Belle Vernon (1-0) dominated throughout, scoring on all but two of its six first-half possessions before adding two more scores in the third quarter to put the running clock into effect.

Martin was a key contributor as both a pass catcher and a runner.

He scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter when Braden Laux found him open in the end zone on a slant route. Martin then added a 7-yard touchdown grab to give BVA a 26-0 lead heading into halftime.

With Martin as his top target, Laux completed 10 of his 14 passes for 61 yards.

“I think the best thing about Braden is his ability to navigate the pocket, and he showed that tonight,” Humbert said. “We weren’t crisp, but if you look at this team compared to where we were last year, we have a lot more experience and Braden’s maturation process showed in this one.”

Martin showed off his wheels and his elusiveness with a pair of rushing scores in the second half.

On BVA’s second drive of the third quarter, Martin left the defenders in his dust for a 31-yard score that made it 33-0 after a Dylan Rathway extra point.

Martin earned a 10-yard gain on the first play of the Leopards’ next possession before finding paydirt from 40 yards.

He finished with seven carries for just over 100 yards.

Anthony Crews and Jake Gedekoh were valuable assets out of the backfield, as well.

Though limited in his carries throughout the night, Crews capped off a six-play opening drive with a 21-yard touchdown run to get the Leopards on the board in the first quarter.

Gedekoh later added a 39-yard score in the second as part of a 52-yard showing in the first half.

“We’re trying to get Quinton the ball in a magnitude of ways, and he did his job,” Humbert said. “And how about Anthony Crews? He stepped in there and, especially with the way he navigated that outside run. We know he’s going to be a weapon for us.”

A week after a lopsided 50-13 win over Uniontown, Laurel Highlands (1-1) couldn’t generate much fluidity on offense.

In the first half, the Mustangs punted five times and turned the ball over on downs once. They turned the ball over on downs two more times in the second half, despite having a few big plays on a late third-quarter drive that allowed them to get into BVA territory for the first time.

“We were just inconsistent. We couldn’t get any continuity offensively or defensively,” Laurel Highlands coach Rich Kolesar said. “Belle Vernon is a good team all around, and you have to play a really good game to beat a team like that. We showed some flashes here and there, but we just couldn’t string it together.”

Belle Vernon Area resumes play at home against McKeesport next week, and Laurel Highlands heads to Kiski Area.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Laurel Highlands