Electrifying: Whitlock talented, fearless at BV
Devin Whitlock loves tattoos. He’s got four of them, one being the words “Fear None,” which are emblazoned across his right forearm.
“I just take it as, I don’t fear anybody,” said Whitlock, a quarterback-cornerback at Belle Vernon. “I don’t think anybody should fear anybody. We’re all the same. We all bleed the same blood. Nobody is different than the next man.”
Whitlock’s point is well taken, but when it comes to high school football players, Whitlock is different than most. He’s one of the most dynamic talents in the WPIAL, a blur who uses his speed and elusiveness to baffle opposing defenses. And at 5 feet 8, 170 pounds, he pound for pound, inch for inch might be the very best player in the area.
As fast as Whitlock is, he has never been able to successfully chase down a WPIAL title. Belle Vernon hasn’t done it since 1995. Two years ago, the Leopards lost in the final. Last year it was the semifinals. Now a senior, Whitlock will take one final run at it this season. Belle Vernon is once again expected to be one of the top teams in WPIAL Class 4A.
“I believe we can do it and I believe we will,” he said. “Having players who have been there before and know what it’s like to be hurt multiple times, it just gives you more motivation to go even harder than what you were doing. I feel like this team will do it. Everybody knows what’s at stake and what the goals are this year.”
When we last saw Whitlock in game action, he was at the hallowed Pit in Aliquippa, gashing the Quips’ defense for 159 yards on the ground and three touchdowns — one on a 64yard punt return — but Belle Vernon coughed up a twotouchdown lead in a 33-25 season-ending loss.
If the WPIAL handed out a “Thomas Edison Award” for most electric player, Whitlock might be the favorite. In that area, Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said Whitlock has no peers.
“I would think from an electricity standpoint,” said Humbert. “He’s a kid who is extremely explosive, inside and outside the box. He has that vertical and lateral elusiveness.”
Statistics back it up. After playing a “slash” role his sophomore season, Whitlock took over as the starting quarterback last season. In just eight games (Belle Vernon went 6-2), Whitlock rushed for 1,082 yards on 101 carries (10.7 yards per carry) and completed 35 of 76 passes for 528 yards and six touchdowns. He scored 20 total
touchdowns — 15 rushing, 3 on interception returns and 2 on punt returns. Whitlock picked off a team-high five passes.
“He was as good as I imagined, especially coming off of [the COVID shutdown],” Humbert said. “His electrifying play on the field captivated a lot of people. He had a really good season for us. Not only with the ball in his hands, but him being a good teammate and good general out there. He was a true team guy.”
Humbert raves about Whitlock’s toughness, saying “he plays with the mindset that we try to instill in linemen.”
Whitlock, one of only two juniors selected to the PostGazette’s Fabulous 22 team last season, has a knack for finding the end zone. It begins with him having the belief that he will ultimately end up there when he takes off running.
“Every time I touch the ball I think I’m scoring,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any defense — not to sound cocky or anything — but I don’t think anybody can stop me. I just keep that mindset every single play. If they do stop me, they have to show every single play that they can stop me.”
Here lies an even bigger problem for Belle Vernon’s opponents: Not only must they try to stop Whitlock, but they must do the same to teammate Quinton Martin, who is one of the top sophomores in the state and already holds scholarship offers from Pitt and Penn State. Martin (6-3, 195) saw his role increase steadily last season — he rushed for 147 yards against Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals and 81 against Aliquippa in the semifinals — and it will rise even further this season. Humbert said Martin will be moved all around, seeing time at running back, slot receiver and H-back.
“I think they are two
people that you have to account for every time,” Humbert said.
Added Whitlock, “It’s crazy. It’s hard to explain. He takes so much weight off my shoulders and just makes it harder for defenses. Either way we go in the run game, we can’t go wrong. It’s great playing with him.”
Look for Belle Vernon’s passing game to expand this season, as well. Becoming a more efficient passer is something that Whitock worked on extensively in the offseason. Humbert said Whitlock will throw the ball more, not only laterally but vertically.
Win a conference title. Win a WPIAL title. Win a PIAA title. Those are Whitlock’s biggest goals this season. But he also has some personal goals, too. He said he would like to rush for 2,500 yards and pass for 1,500. The rushing total is especially a big number, but Whitlock is confident that he can reach it.
“Yeah, it’s a high number, but I think when we go far [in the playoffs], it will get played into reality,” said Whitlock, also a basketball standout who averaged 21.9 points his junior season and has scored 1,373 career points.
Whitlock is the only player in the WPIAL who will go into the season having been named to an all-conference team three consecutive years. He was selected an all-conference defensive back his freshman season at Monessen.
A big senior season would only help Whitlock’s recruitment. He currently holds offers from Division I FCS Youngstown State and Division II Oklahoma A&M and Notre Dame (Ohio). Most colleges are recruiting Whitlock to play slot receiver.
“He has that drive and that yearning and will,” Humbert said. “Whoever passes on him because of his size, it will just free up someone that will hit the jackpot.”