High school football Game of the Week:
Class 4A’s No. 1 team rolls to win vs. No. 2
Belle Vernon’s Nolan Labuda can’t catch Thomas Jefferson’s Dan Deabner as he scores a touchdown Friday night.
Ever since Belle Vernon installed gold turf at Weir Stadium in 2015, the Leopards affectionately have called the place “The Beach” — and pretty much kicked sand in almost every opponent’s face.
Belle Vernon had lost only once before on the golden turf. Then, Thomas Jefferson came to “The Beach” Friday night, acted all surfer dude, and rode a wave of points to an easy win.
In a matchup of the top two ranked teams in WPIAL Class 4A, No. 1 Thomas Jefferson breezed to a 36-14 victory against the No. 2 Leopards in a Big Eight Conference game.
Thomas Jefferson (2-0 overall, 2-0 in conference) used a strong running game and some big pass plays to knock off a Belle Vernon team one year after losing at “The Beach.” The 36 points were the most Belle Vernon has given up in four seasons on the gold turf.
“The emotion we had before the game, it was live,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “We were excited to play this game.”
Thomas Jefferson rolled, despite fumbling the ball away three times and committing 10 penalties. Thomas Jefferson’s domination is not a good sign for the rest of Class 4A.
It’s a classification that seems to lack depth of quality teams. And Thomas Jefferson waltzed past the No. 2 team.
“If we stay healthy and just keep getting better, this could be one of our better teams,” said Cherpak, whose offensive line was excellent.
Max Shaw rushed for 152 yards on 14 carries for Thomas Jefferson and only played a few plays in the second half because of cramps. The game was stopped numerous times in the second half because of players with cramps, but Belle Vernon’s big problem was it couldn’t cramp the style of Thomas Jefferson quarterback Shane Stump and receiver Dan Deabner. Stump completed 7 of 12 passes for 201 yards. Deabner caught six passes for 196 yards and scored twice on plays of 35 and 80 yards.
“I don’t think we had horrible coverage, either,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “The margin for error against their passing game is very small. You have to be very sound because [Stump] is extremely accurate and their kids can get under the ball.”
Thomas Jefferson’s win overshadowed an outstanding performance by Belle Vernon running back Mason Pascoe, who finished with 270 yards on 18 carries and scored both Belle Vernon touchdowns on runs of 78 and 55 yards. But Belle Vernon (2-0, 0-1) made too many mistakes, most notably snaps from center on punts and a field goal.
Belle Vernon had a first-and-goal at the Thomas Jefferson 2 on the first drive of the game, but came away with no points because of a botched field-goal snap.
A fumble late in the first half by quarterback Jared Hartman also set up Thomas Jefferson’s final score of the second quarter, a 35-yard touchdown pass over the middle from Stump to Deabner.
Shaw scored Thomas Jefferson’s first touchdown on a 27-yard run. But Pascoe answered on the first play after the kickoff, breaking through for a 78-yard touchdown.
Later in the first quarter, a bad Belle Vernon punt snap turned into a Thomas Jefferson safety that put the Jaguars ahead, 8-7. On the first play after the free kick, Shaw went 30 yards for a touchdown.
In the third quarter, Stump hit Deabner on an 80-yard touchdown pass, and the Jaguars coasted from there.
Take away Pascoe’s rushing yards, and Belle Vernon had minus-22 yards as a team.
“I never worry about the resiliency of our kids,” said Humbert. “We’ve got a lot of football left. Hopefully, this will set the stage for something in November.”