Unbeaten BV holds off fiesty Trinity

BELLE VERNON – Belle Vernon geared up for its Big Nine Conference first-place showdown next weekend against Thomas Jefferson with a hard-fought 28-21 win over Trinity Friday night at James Weir Stadium.
“I am happy with how we played tonight and I am happy with the success we had in the run game,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said of his team, which gained 343 yards on the ground on 53 carries.
“I know that they really key this game and they kind of build this up, but we respect them and we have no animosity towards them. (Trinity coach Jon) Miller does a great job out there.”
Miller thought a slow start for the Hillers was the difference in the game.
“You can’t spot a team two touchdowns in this kind of hostile environment,” he said. “I am proud of how we fought back and our kids have great heart and they showed it.
“We have a veteran group. We will be over this loss Monday and we will move on to Albert Gallatin.”
After forcing Belle Vernon (6-0, 6-0) to punt on the initial drive of the game, Trinity (3-3, 2-3) gave the ball right back to the Leopards as quarterback Dylan Kern fumbled the first offensive snap of the game for the Hillers and Dylan Haney recovered for the Leps at the Trinity 17-yard line.
Six plays later, quarterback Jared Hartman scored from two yards to give the Leps a 6-0 lead.
Belle Vernon’s Nolan Labuda intercepted a Kern pass on Trinity’s next drive. Two plays later, Mason Pascoe raced 29 yards for a touchdown. Cam Guess added the extra point to make the score 13-0.
The score held at 13-0 into the second quarter, when Joey Koroly, Trinity’s all-time leading rusher, found a hole and raced 67 yards for a touchdown. Dante Cecchine’s extra point trimmed Belle Vernon’s lead to 13-7 with 7:07 to play in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Pascoe returned the kick 99 yards, but the play was called back because of a holding penalty. The Leopards took over at their 14-yard line and went 86 yards in seven plays with Larry Callaway scoring on a 54-yard run.
The Leps went for two, and Hartman ran a quarterback keeper to make the score 21-7.
Belle Vernon gained 178 yards in the first half on 30 plays while Trinity had 144 yards on 24 plays with Koroly accounting for 128 of the yards, 108 on the ground on nine carries.
Trinity had the lone score of the third quarter, and it came at from the arm of Koroly as he hit Cole Bair with a 60-yard halfback pass to cut the gap to 21-14.
Belle Vernon extended its lead back to 14 points, 28-14, with 4:39 to play on a 64-yard touchdown run by Pascoe, and the Leopards’ defense set up the score.
Trinity was primed to tie the score, but a fourth-down stop at the four-yard line by Belle Vernon thwarted the drive.
Both coaches said the play was pivotal.
“It was huge and we needed to quell their drive,” Humbert said. “They go on eight-, nine-, 10-play drives and we had to cut the snake off at its head. “So for us to get that fourth-down stop, it was big because we scored right after.”
“(The spot) was out of our control and our kid did a great job of reaching out for the first down,” Miller said. “They saw one way, and I guess the film won’t lie, but there isn’t anything we can do that about that.”
Down two scores and with the ball, Trinity did not quit and scored quickly as it went 74 yards in six plays with Koroly scoring from one yard with 3:06 to play.
Pascoe (207 yards) and Callaway (83 yards) combined for 290 rusing yards for Belle Vernon while Koroly finished with 174 yards to extend his school record to 3,709.