Leechburg scores 76 in dominating Riverview for 400th win

By: Michael Love
Friday, October 16, 2020 | 10:23 PM

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Leechburg averaged 44 points in wins over Riverview in Eastern Conference matchups the past two seasons.

The Blue Devils surpassed that by halftime against the Raiders on Friday.

Leechburg led by 41 at the break and cruised to a 76-25 victory on senior night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“It was a really great win, especially for the seniors,” said sophomore running back Braylon Lovelace, who had 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 13 carries in the first half. He ended the game with 392 yards and four scores on 17 carries.

“We worked great as a team. Everyone contributed.”

The win was the 400th in the history of the Leechburg football program. It probably took longer to reach that milestone than most of the Blue Devils faithful would have expected — Leechburg picked up win 300 in the 1983 season — but the wait is over.

“It’s great anytime you can get a milestone like this,” Leechburg coach Randy Walters said. “When they started to bring this up a couple of weeks ago, I looked it up, and there’s surprisingly not as many teams that have it as one would think. I am really proud of the kids that they were able to get that.”

The Blue Devils (3-3, 3-3) will go for win 401 and victory No. 4 this season next Friday against Imani Christian at renovated Graham Field in Wilkinsburg.

A win also would give Leechburg its first winning season since 1991 (5-4-1).

“We’re going have to work hard this week and take care of some things to be ready for Imani,” Lovelace said.

Leechburg’s three seniors — Dylan Cook, Dalton Hamm and Allen Harvey — were celebrated before the game and featured prominently in the first half.

Hamm, a lineman who formerly lined up at fullback, got Leechburg on the board on a 1-yard plunge with 7 minutes, 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

He barreled in from 10 yards late in the first half.

“Dalton is a kid who has been working his tail off,” Walters said. “We put that in this week, and he ran hard.”

Harvey picked off a throw in the first quarter and caught a 35-yard pass from Cook that helped set up a second-quarter score.

Cook threw for 115 yards with a 56-yard scoring strike to junior Thomas Burke.

Cook added a 35-yard scoring run in the first quarter.

Burke added a 13-yard TD run in the third quarter, and junior Eli Rich recorded a 7-yard scoring run and returned a kickoff 65 yards to the end zone.

Riverview got on the board late in the first half as James Williams caught a 15-yard pass from Ryan Aber.

Dean Cecere rambled 50 yards for a second Raiders score with 2:09 left in the third quarter and added another 50-yard scoring run early in the fourth.

Anthony Mazur went in from 1 yard later in the final quarter to cap the scoring for Riverview.

“Leechburg is a good team. They play physical football,” Riverview coach Trevor George said. “All respect to them and the mentality they bring to the field. We just didn’t get it done. We just have to get back to work, watch film and get ready to go Monday.”

Cecere finished with 205 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Aber completed 12 of 22 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Leechburg, Riverview