Belle Vernon wastes no time, ousts New Castle
Steve Macheska
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Steve Macheska celebrates after gaining control of the ball on a fumble by New Castle.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin runs away from New Castle to score a touchdown in the first quarter.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Devin Whitlock makes another big run against New Castle.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin, center, celebrates his touchdown against New Castle in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals with teammates Dylan Larson and Tommy Kovatch (68).Belle Vernon will play Aliquippa for the WPIAL championship Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.
Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter
Wide receiver Evan Pohlot is one of seven returning starters on offense for Belle Vernon, which has dropped to Class 3A.
BELLE VERNON – All season, Belle Vernon has been a quick-strike team, and Friday night in a 45-20 win over New Castle in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals, the Leopards showed just how explosive they can be.
While sloppy at times and playing only its second game in 28 days, and despite possessing the ball for only 12:02, Belle Vernon still made the most of its plays as its longest drive was a mere six plays.
“We were able to make some plays, but we made it harder than we had to,” said Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert. “We were sloppy, but New Castle did a great job of grinding it out and taking time off the clock as they methodically moved the ball.”
New Castle head coach Joe Cowart spoke about Belle Vernon’s longest drive being only six plays.
“(Six) plays? We’ll take that,” he said. “When we were preparing for them, we were asking, what do they do on third down? Nobody knows because they never get there.”
New Castle (7-5) held the ball for 35:58 and gained 388 yards on 66 plays while Belle Vernon gained 356 yards on 36 plays.
Up 7-6 after one quarter, thanks to a 31-yard touchdown run by Quinton Martin, the top-seeded Leopards (9-0) exploded for 28 points in the second quarter on only 10 offensive plays, the longest scoring drive lasting only 1:39.
After a one-yard score by Devin Whitlock, Chris Hood hit Matayo Savage on a 13-yard touchdown to trim the Belle Vernon lead to 14-12 with 5:41 to go in the first half.
Then Belle Vernon got going as it scored three touchdowns over the last 3:34 of the half to take control.
Martin scored from five yards out and after Belle Vernon’s Parker Jewell recovered a New Castle fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Whitlock hit Logan Hoffman on the next play with a 30-yard touchdown pass.
After a Chase Ruokonen gave Belle Vernon field position at the New Castle 20-yard line, Whitlock scored from one yard out four plays later. Tyler Kovatch’s extra point gave the Leps a 35-12 advantage heading into the half.
Despite the big lead, Belle Vernon was outgained in the first half as it had 184 yards of offense on 19 plays while NC had 215 yards on 37 plays.
Kovatch made a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and Whitlock raced 75 yards for the last touchdown of the game to close the scoring for Belle Vernon.
Whitlock finished with 145 yards passing and 75 yards rushing on 11 carries, although outside of his long touchdown run he was held to 0 yards over his other 10 carries.
Martin finished with 123 yards rushing and two scores on 15 carries.
Hood passed for 200 yards and rushed for 77 for New Castle while Wells caught six passes for 132 yards.
Belle Vernon moves on to face its arch rival Thomas Jefferson (8-2), the fifth seed, in the WPIAL semifinals. It is a rematch of Belle Vernon’s 28-21 win on Sept. 24 in a Big Eight Conference game.