Belle Vernon wishing to finally break through, become champs
Belle Vernon weathered a storm earlier this season when it opened the year against four powerhouses.
Of the four, Laurel Highlands, McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson all made the WPIAL Class 4A football playoffs, while the other, PennTrafford, was the defending Class 5A state champion.
Running into trouble while traversing that gauntlet would have been expected. Maybe even overlooked.
But when it was all said and done, the Leopards were 2-2, their losses by a total of nine points. More importantly, they were primed and battletested for what lay ahead when they opened their Class 3A slate. As it turned out, Belle Vernon’s next seven games were barely minor speed bumps on their way to a date with No. 2 Avonwoth (11-1) in the WPIAL championship game, 5 p.m. Friday at Acrisure Stadium.
“The kids have been pretty steady and even- keeled throughout most of the season,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “Even last week, I think once we won, it was anticlimactic because it was expected and kind of the way we wanted it.”
Belle Vernon (9-2), the top seed, will be playing in its third championship game in four years having lost to Thomas Jefferson in 2019 and Aliquippa in 2021. But although this will be something of a new experience playing for the Class 3A title, the goal remains the same.
“I think the key for us this year is to finish,” Humbert said. “We’ve been there twice in the last four years. The first time and maybe the second, there was just so much excitement in just getting there and now it’s more business.”
While Belle Vernon has come up short in its two most recent attempts, the Leopards’ only championship came in 1995. Meanwhile, Avonworth is also looking for only the second outright title in school history. Avonworth and Union played to a 13-13 tie in 1959 before the Antelopes defeated Washington to win a championship in 2019. That game was played at Norwin High School.
Like Belle Vernon, Avonworth had a couple of tough matchups. It took on Class 2A semifinalist Sto-Rox and suffered its only loss of the season against Central Valley, defending Class 3A state champion and 2022 Class 4A WPIAL finalist.
“They’re different offensively, but in terms of matchups, Belle Vernon is most similar to Central Valley,” Avonworth coach Duke Johncour said. “They had a running back, a receiver an H-back, a good offensive line and a strong quarterback, so that’s who I’d compare them to.”
Central Valley has those things, but no team Avonworth saw this year has had the a player with the talent to completely dominate a game like Belle Vernon junior Quinton Martin. Martin, who is being courted by innumerable major colleges, scored touchdowns both rushing and receiving in the team’s 42-0 semifinal victory against Freeport. He now has 1,094 yards rushing, 25 receptions and has scored 26 total touchdowns on the year. Martin also is a talented defensive back
“They put him all over the field. You have to defend him at wideout, at slot, at tailback, Wildcat,” Johncour said. “He’s just versatile and he’s powerful.”
More importantly, he’s not alone. Martin may be the focal point of the Belle Vernon attack, but he is far from the Leopards’ only weapon.
Running back Jake Gedekoh has been a perfect complement for Martin and is second on the team with 610 yards on the ground and 16 total touchdowns. Quarterback Braden Laux has come into his own this season and is developing into a dangerous dual-threat in the backfield.
Martin has been Laux’s favorite target in the passing game, but receiver Chase Rukonen is averaging 17.2 yards a catch.
While Belle Vernon has averaged 39.1 points this season, it’s telling what the Leopards have accomplished against teams in their own classification. In the past seven weeks, the Leopards have averaged 49.9 points a game, while allowing only 5.0.
Those are impressive numbers to be sure. But it’s not like Avonworth is going to cower in fear when it takes the field.
“Our team is very unselfish, they are focused and they are good football players,” Johncour said. “We are a wellrounded team on both sides of the ball. I’ve said it all year long. We’re not hiding anybody. We’re a balanced team, obviously no five-star recruits, but we are a disciplined team.”
Avonworth boasts 1,400yard quarterback Nate Harper, 1,200-yard rusher Luke Hilyard and a balanced group of tall receivers in 6foot-4 Peyton Faulkner and 6-8 Austin Johncour (son of the coach), to go along with 5-11 Andrew Kuban. As far as output, Avonworth has been on a similar pace, both offensively and defensively, as Belle Vernon. The Antelopes are scoring 34.1 points a game and have allowed only 9.3.