Whiteleather rushes for 356 yards, 3 TDs as No. 5 Rochester routs Leechburg

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 7, 2018 | 10:57 PM

Leechburg entered its game at Rochester welcomed by a banner from the school’s cheerleaders with a bold message.

“Your school. Your field. Our game.”

The Rams had other ideas.

Rochester overpowered Leechburg with a strong ground attack for a 42-6 nonconference win.

“I thought our offensive line did a tremendous job tonight,” Rochester coach Gene Matsook said. “I thought our tight ends did an excellent job blocking, and we did a good job mixing it up with the different backs. It was a good team win.”

No. 5-1A Rochester is off to a 3-0 start for the third straight season.

The Rams used a ground-and-pound offensive attack to take an early lead and never looked back. The rushing attack was led by Noah Whiteleather, who finished with 356 yards and three touchdowns. The senior ran for 149 yards in the first quarter, including a 38-yard touchdown run to kick off the Rams’ scoring.

A 46-yard Whiteleather run late in the first quarter set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Darius Goosby to put Rochester ahead 14-0 with five minutes to play in the first quarter.

“It really started with the line,” Whiteleather said. “They worked hard through the whole week, and it showed tonight.”

A third drive by the Rams appeared to be on the way to an end zone but Leecburg’s Anthony Mangee came up with a fumble by Ricky Kirkland.

The turnover gave the Blue Devil offense a spark. Alex Stramaski busted out on a 17-yard run for Leechburg’s initial first down, with under a minute to play in the opening quarter. Jake Blumer followed with a 15-yard run.

But the drive fizzled. On a third-and-6 from the Leechburg 49, the Blue Devils were called for an illegal procedure. Blumer was then taken down in the backfield for a loss of 5 yards.

“Anytime when you get a turnover, start to get momentum and don’t capitalize on that momentum, it can be frustrating,” Leechburg coach Mark George said. “But you have to learn to overcome that. That’s called adversity. There is always adversity on the football field, and you have to learn to overcome that.”

The following drive was a backbreaker for Leechburg. Rochester put together an 11-play, 82-yard drive that drained more than five minutes off the clock. Ten of the plays were runs, capped off by a 6-yard Goosby bruiser up the middle. Rochester went into halftime with a 20-0 lead.

Whiteleather added touchdown runs of 15 and 74 yards in the third quarter.

“He is a great kid,” Matsook said. “He worked hard in the offseason with weightlifting and got stronger. He prepared himself for this. It is his senior year, and he has big goals.”

Leechburg (1-2) got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. A Dylon Cook 37-yard pass to Chance Wadsworth set the Blue Devils up inside the 5-yard line, and Blumer pounded it in on a sweep from 3-yards out.

“We started to click a little bit and started to make plays happen,” George said. “But we didn’t do enough of that in the game. You need to create opportunities for yourself, and we just didn’t do it.”

Cook finished with 73 passing yards and an interception.

Nathan Smith is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg, Rochester