Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd rushes for 5 TDs as Blue Devils rout Riverview to stay unbeaten
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Friday, September 13, 2024 | 10:34 PM
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd tries to reach the end zone as Riverview’s Quinlan Catanzaro attempts a tackle on Friday.
Leechburg’s Tim Andrasy runs the ball against Riverview on Friday.
Riverview’s Rio Stotts throws a pass against Leechburg on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd looks for an opening against Riverview on Friday.
Leechburg’s Brice Gilmer looks to make a catch against Riverview on Friday.
Riverview’s Rio Stotts looks for an open man against Leechburg on Friday.
Riverview’s Max Kratt looks for an opening against Leechburg on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd is tackled by Riverview defenders on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jake Cummings runs the ball before colliding with Riverview’s Prince Govan (7) on Friday.
Leechburg’s Brady Rollinger runs the ball against Riverview on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd runs the ball against Riverview on Friday.
Riverview’s Johnny Bertucci runs the ball against Leechburg on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd finds running room against Riverview on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jake Cummings gets some yardage against Riverview on Friday.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd charges through the Riverview defense for a touchdown Friday.
Riverview came to Leechburg’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday hoping to halt a six-game losing skid to the Blue Devils in Eastern Conference play.
But Leechburg wouldn’t hear of it.
The Blue Devils held a four-touchdown lead at halftime, added on in the third and fourth quarter and came away with a convincing 43-14 victory to improve to 4-0.
“This was a nice win for the kids, and we’re just trying to take it one game at a time,” Leechburg coach Randy Walters said. “Everybody’s getting better, and we have to match that as we continue to move through the conference. We have a tough one next week with Jeannette.”
Leechburg is 4-0 for the first time since 1978.
Blue Devils quarterback Jayden Floyd helped lead the way with his feet.
He finished with 12 carries for 150 yards and five touchdowns. Ten of those carries, 134 of those yards and four of those scores came in the first half.
“Riverview is a good team, but we were able to put it all together tonight,” said Floyd, who has 404 rushing yards and nine TDs on the ground over the past two games.
“I think we were more physical. We were able to start fast with an early touchdown and kept it rolling from there.”
Leechburg finished with 297 yards of total offense, with 257 of it coming on the ground. Jake Cummings added 11 carries for 53 yards, and Tim Andrasy contributed 54 yards on 10 carries.
“We have a good offensive line, and we’re going to ride them,” Walters said. “They are really starting to jell.”
Touchdown runs from Floyd (17 yards) and Cummings (15 yards) in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, put Leechburg ahead 43-7 and put the mercy-rule running clock into effect.
Riverview (1-2) capped the game’s scoring with 3:13 left as quarterback Rio Stotts connected with tight end Alex Schultheis for a 29-yard touchdown.
Stotts finished 14 of 17 for 181 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Schultheis caught six passes for 99 yards.
Riverview kicked off to open the game and recovered a short line drive boot from Drew Hunter.
However, the Raiders were offside, and they had to re-kick.
This time, Leechburg recovered, and its first drive resulted in points when Floyd scored on a quarterback keeper from 2 yards with 9:41 left in the first quarter.
Floyd went on to score three more times in the half, all in the second quarter.
The first one, with 7:37 left in the half, was from 1 yard to cap a drive after Brady Rollinger recovered a Riverview fumble at the Blue Devils’ 42.
Floyd scored again from 1 yard with 2:40 on the clock to extend Leechburg’s lead to 21-0.
Riverview’s lone score of the first half came as an answer to Leechburg’s third touchdown.
Stotts took the kick at his 22 and raced down the Raiders sideline into the end zone.
The touchdown with 2:25 left until halftime cut the Leechburg advantage to 21-7.
But Floyd’s feet would get the job done again as the line opened a hole up the middle, and he scampered 48 yards.
Riverview was offside on the PAT kick, so Leechburg decided to go for 2. It was successful as Cummings ran in the conversion to make it 29-7 with 2:02 to go until the break.
Riverview set itself up for another score in the waning seconds of the half as it drove from its 35 to the Leechburg 1.
A penalty, intentional grounding from the shotgun formation, on third-and-goal, pushed the Raiders back 15 yards to the 16. Drew Hunter came on to attempt a 32-yard field goal with 5 seconds on the clock, but the kick was blocked by Cummings, and the half came to a close.
Riverview collected 64 yards on that final drive after managing just 24 on its first four drives of the half.
The Raiders will look to get back on track next week against Springdale.
“We gave so many opportunities away,” Raiders coach Trevor George said.
“We have to keep the ball moving and keep the chains moving. And on defense, when it’s third-and-six-plus, we have to get off the field. The kids from Leechburg earned the yards and the first downs. They are good football team. But we missed out on some opportunities that were a little self-inflicted. We can’t do that if we want to make it to the playoffs.”
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.
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