Westmoreland roundup: Jeannette cruises past Leechburg

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 8, 2017 | 11:18 PM

Jeannette did what the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class A would expect to do in its conference opener — hit the gas and not look back.

The Jayhawks started fast, and kept the pace up in a 49-6 victory over Eastern Conference opponent Leechburg on Friday at McKee Stadium.

“There were things that we wanted to work on offensively,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “We couldn't have scripted it out (any better).”

Junior receiver Marcus Barnes opened the scoring with a 7-yard strike from senior Robert Kennedy.

Kennedy connected with junior receiver Isaiah Winters for a 26-yard score, opening up a 14-0 lead after one quarter. He added another passing score, a 56-yarder to sophomore Imani Sanders.

Kennedy factored in on all six first-half scores for Jeannette (3-0, 1-0). He finished the game 7 of 9 for 156 yards.

“When (Kennedy) has the ball in his hands, he's electric,” Hall said. “Any time he touches the ball, you never know.”

Barnes had three catches for 55 yards, and Winters grabbed two passes for 39 yards.

“When you have four or five receivers who are 6-foot-3 or taller, and they can run too, we just spread the ball around,” Hall said. “Sometimes there aren't enough balls to be spread around. I'm hoping our kids are understanding that, and they're team players.”

Belle Vernon 49, Uniontown 2 — Jared Hartman threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead No. 3 Belle Vernon (2-0, 2-0) to a Big 9 Conference win at Uniontown (0-3, 0-2). Logan Pfrogner caught two scoring passes for Belle Vernon, which scored all of its points in the first half.

Monessen 14, Jefferson-Morgan 12 — Justin Towler's 10-yard run in the fourth quarter helped Monessen (1-2, 1-1) win a Tri-County South game.

Latrobe 48, Chartiers Valley 26 — The Wildcats (1-2) earned their first win of the season with a nonconference triumph over Chartiers Valley (0-3).

Fort Cherry 33, Greensburg Central 30 (OT) — Fort Cherry (1-1) booted a field goal in overtime to edge Greensburg Central Catholic (1-2) in a nonconference game.

Norwin 54, Shaler 7 — In nonconference play, Jayvon Thrift ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns to lead Norwin (2-1) to the win over Shaler (0-3). Jack Salopek added 162 passing yards and a touchdown.

Charleroi 54, Southmoreland 7 — Perry Hunter ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns to lead Class 2A Charleroi (2-1) to victory over Class 3A Southmoreland (0-2). Geno Pellegrini threw for 138 yards and ran for a 10-yard touchdown.

Ligonier Valley 44, Northern Cambria 0 — In the District 6 Heritage Conference, Ligonier Valley improved to 3-0 overall and in conference play with a shutout victory.