Belle Vernon pulls away with big 3rd quarter
INDIANA — Belle Vernon turned a tie game at halftime into a rout by scoring 28 third-quarter points en route to a 49-14 victory over Indiana in a Class 4A Big Eight Conference contest Friday night.
Larry Calloway had a pair of touchdowns, on runs of 20 and 18 yards, during the pivotal third quarter and tacked on a two-point conversion plunge as Belle Vernon turned a 14-14 tie into a 41-14 advantage. The Leopards (2-1, 3-1) scored 27 points in eight minutes of the third quarter.
Mason Pascoe started the big second half for Belle Vernon with a two-yard TD run and Jared Hartman followed with a one-yard scoring plunge. Pascoe also opened the scoring with a two-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Indiana’s Ryan Dickson threw a 56-yard TD pass to Luke Thomas that made it 7-7, but Belle Vernon regained the lead at 14-7 when Nolan Labuda caught a 20-yard TD from Hartman in the second quarter.
Indiana (1-3, 1-4) sent the game to halftime at 14-14 when Thomas scored on a one-yard keeper.
Pascore capped the scoring with his third TD, a 41-yard run, in the fourth quarter. He finished with 197 yards on 23 carries.
Hartman was seven of nine passing for 95 yards and one score in the rain-plagued game.
Indiana fumbled seven times, losing three.